Spyro And Ember 2 The Missing Tale
by Chuckles the Cheat
Summary: When Spyro finally returns to Ember Spyro talks with Ember about why he suddenly vanished for six years.
1. Reunited At Last

Authors note: Here it is. The sequel to my oneshot. I have two announcements for this story to make. The first one is that I had to pull a few strings for this sequel. I wasn't expecting to make a sequel to my oneshot but I still think this is pretty good. The second one is that this is not a oneshot. This is a story with chapters. That's right. It may not very long though. The story starts off from the epilogue from the last story. If you didn't read the epilogue you better go do it or you will be lost. Enjoy the story and your always welcome to review!

Spyro and Ember 2

The Missing Tale of Spyro

Chapter 1 Reunited At Last

"Spyro? Is that you?",Ember asked in shock. The purple dragon smiled.

"How many purple dragons are there? Yea it's me Ember. It's so great to see you again."

Ember's heart was beginning to slow down after that little shock she had earlier, "I thought you were gone. I heard you ran away from us after",Ember stopped right there trying not to remind her friend the fate of his mother.

"After my mom died?",Spyro finished.

Ember sat for a second then answered, "Yea, I'm sorry. I'm probably just bringing you grief and sorrow."

Ember layed her head low and Spyro walked over to her to comfort her, "It's alright, I'm over it."

Ember lifted her head with a smile, "I'm glad your back. When I overheard you disappeared I didn't know what to do. I even tried looking for you one day."

_Day of Spyro's Disappearance_

Ember walked into her room disappointed that Spyro wasn't at school again today. She flopped on her bed and stared out the window into the partly cloudy skies. It looked as if it was going to rain later on today for even more heavy clouds were in the distance.

Then Ember began hearing some noise coming from outside of her room. "Selvinus, have you heard anything of Spyro?",Ember overheard her father say.

She quickly paced toward the door and stopped with her head peeking around the corner. In the hall was her father and some other unrecognizable yellow dragon with a blue underbelly. At least she didn't know who it was but evidently her father knew. Ember studied her father. From his orange scales to his curved claws. His horns were curved back and his wings looked as if they were been through some rough battles from time to time.

"I spotted some tracks that led into the forest. I followed them but then they just suddenly stopped",Selvinus explained.

"They just stopped?"

Selvinus nodded, "No idea what happened. Maybe he's covering his tracks."

Ember's father shook his head, "Why? He's not being hunted it just doesn't make any sense."

Selvinus thought then answered, "He's clearly depressed."

"Of course he is Selvinus his mother died a few days ago remember?"

Ember was shocked. She didn't hear anything about this matter. No wonder Spyro was nowhere to be found. She continued eavesdropping for more information.

"I know, horrible day that was",Selvinus said then looked toward the ground and scratched an itch on his left paw remembering the day it happened.

"I just hope Spyro is alright."

Selvinus looked up at the taller dragon, "I'm sure he is, he's a smart dragon he knows what he's doing. Heck if he can cover his tracks like he did at his age then evidently he knows what he's doing."

Ember's father thought then asked, "Where did you say you lost the tracks?"

Selvinus answered right away, "In the forest about north of here. There's a trail that leads through the forest which is where I found the prints."

"Well it's our only lead so far. Spyro's father acts a little suspicious to me also. I think he knows something."

Selvinus sat for a second then said, "Want someone to spy on him?"

"No, we'll wait it out for him. As for Spyro we'll have a search party."

"When?",Selvinus asked.

"When I say",Selvinus simply heard.

Ember's father walked by Selvinus and walked into the kitchen. Selvinus began walking toward Ember's room making Ember close her door to a crack before Selvinus saw her. Selvinus stopped as the door shut. He sat for a second then shrugged and continued walking toward the exit.

"Spyro",Ember began in her thoughts. She thought about him. The more she did the more worried she became. Then the pink dragon thought up a ridiculous plan. She would try and find him. It was reckless of course but she didn't care. She wanted her friend back safe and sound.

She waited a in her room for things to quiet down. An hour and a half passed. Time flew fast for Ember while she thought about what could have happened to Spyro's mother. Ember was just only four years old but that didn't stop her from sneaking out the house. That's what she did. When the coast was clear she snuck out and headed toward the northern forest. She had a good sense of direction. Some dragons she passed by wondered why a child was all by herself. Some made some faint whispers to one another. Ember continued on the road until she saw the forest Selvinus mentioned earlier. She knew it was the one for she saw a path heading straight into the heart of the forest. She looked around before moving ahead. Then she heard thunder. Ember looked up behind her and some dense clouds were coming towards her. Ember looked back at the forest then ran toward it as fast as she could.

When Ember got deep enough in the forest where her home was no longer visible she stopped to take a rest. She examined her surroundings. Dense woods and some birds and crickets were chirping. The sound of a woodpecker echoed across the forest and Ember looked on the path for tracks as Selvinus described. She didn't see any, but it didn't stop her. She walked down the path and little ways in search for them. A few minutes passed and Ember finally came across some tracks. At least she thought it was tracks. It was really hard to tell if it was dragon tracks. The tracks were slowly disappearing due to the wind blowing the sand and dirt around. She followed them anyways it was the only lead she had for the moment.

"Spyro!",Ember yelled. But she heard no response. She walked down the path a little more ways then yelled, "Spyro! Where are you!" Still nothing.

A few more minutes down the path and then the tracks weren't visible anymore. To make matters worse it was beginning to rain. The raindrops came down on Ember making her feel colder.

"Spyro!"

Ember looked back down at the ground where the tracks ended. This must have been what Selvinus mentioned about the tracks just ending. This was the end of the line.

"Ember!"

Ember looked behind her where the voice had come from. No it wasn't Spyro.

"Ember!",the voice yelled again. It was getting closer. Ember quickly looked around for Spyro one last time. Then she heard some rustle in some nearby bushes off the path. Ember looked at the bush. It was bigger than her that was for sure.

"Ember! There you are!"

Ember looked behind her to see her father. Ember looked down on the dirt path then back up at her father.

"Do you know how worried I've been? What are you doing out here?",her father demanded.

"I'm looking for Spyro daddy."

"Spyro?"

"I know what happened daddy. I know what happened to Spyro and his mom. We gotta find him daddy!"

"Honey we tried to look for him. We'll look some more tomorrow. I promise."

"But what if he's in trouble?! What if he's lost?!"

"I'm sorry Ember but I have to worry about you right now. Your my daughter and I don't want you to catch a cold in this rain. Come on let's get home."

Ember sat for a second then nodded though not wanting to. Her father led the way back. Ember took one last look behind her with hope of Spyro coming back.

"Please come back."

_Present Day  
_

"How long has it been?",Spyro asked as he peeked through the bushes and spotted some nearby dragons. They were talking to each other then walked right by the bushes. Spyro returned his attention to Ember.

"Six years I think",Ember responded.

Spyro shook his head, "Doesn't feel like it's been that long. Next time we get a chance let's get out of these bushes. I'm starting to get an itch."

Ember smiled, "You haven't changed a bit."

"How not? I'm taller than last time."

Ember giggled then asked in a more serious tone, "Whatever happened to you anyways? The day you disappeared. Why?"

Spyro shrugged, "What do you think? My mom died I felt so alone and needless when it happened."

Ember stared, "No Spyro there was something else. You wouldn't have disappeared for six years like that. What really happened?"

Spyro sighed, "Alright, there was something else. A few days after my mother died my dad told me the truth. The truth of what really happened to my mother."

"I thought she died from heart failure",Ember said.

Spyro shook his head, "That was what I thought until my dad told me the truth and not to worry."

"Worry about what?",Ember asked.

Spyro took a deep breath then peeked through the bushes again, "Hey the coast is clear we should get moving."

"Why don't you want to be seen?"

Spyro shrugged, "Reunions, hate them. Especially large crowds."

"Well what about our reunion?",Ember asked.

"That's different."

"How so?",Ember asked as she took positions beside Spyro.

"It, just is. We should get going before someone comes back."

The two dragons crawled out the bushes and quickly looked around. No one was in sight.

"So where are we going?",Ember asked.

"To take a walk",Spyro replied.


	2. The Truth

Chapter 2 The Truth

The school was almost out of sight. Spyro led Ember toward a forest for whatever reason he had. Of course she thought it was for privacy for the moment. Spyro looked behind him for a second without stopping then continued onward on an unmarked path. The palm trees swayed as the wind blew and a few clouds were blocking the sun. The two were in an open spot with a tree line, which they crossed earlier, was blocking the school.

"It was a rare contagious disease",Spyro suddenly said.

"What?",Ember replied not knowing what he was talking of.

Spyro thought for a second then answered, "How my mother died. She caught some rare disease named plenicoplylia."

"Plen what?"

"PCP for short",Spyro finished.

Ember stayed quiet for a few steps then asked, "So if I may ask, what exactly was the point of running away for all these years?"

"I was searching for the cure for the disease."

Ember looked ahead to see a tiny forest in the distance. Spyro took no notice of it, they just remained at walk. "But if your mom had already died, then why look for the cure?"

Spyro looked up and saw the forest Ember saw earlier then said, "Hey I found a pretty sweet lake on the other side of that forest, wanna check it out?"

Ember nodded, "Sure." But she was really wondering why Spyro still looked for the cure.

They walked for a few minutes as the tiny forest slowly became closer and Ember still wondered if she would have to ask her question again or if Spyro was going to answer it eventually. When they reached the forest the sun was finally off their backs, giving them a cool shady spot from the sun. They entered the tiny forest from which they began walking past the trees to from which Ember could see was an opening a little ways ahead.

Spyro broke the silence with a question, "So how has school been?"

Ember sighed then answered, "Maybe later."

Spyro immediately knew that it hadn't been going well evidently. Maybe she was lonely throughout the years. A few minutes passed by as they walked through the forest with the sound of birds to break the silence. When they arrived at the end of the trees the environment opened up into an open plain with a beautiful lake in the middle. Ember seemed astonished at the sight.

"Oh my . . . I never even knew this was here. Who knew that this lake was hidden in the trees?"

"Yea, I figured you would like to see it",Spyro smiled.

Ember walked up to the ledge where the lake began and looked into the calm waters. She looked into her own reflection and saw Spyro's image appeared beside hers looking at the same sight.

"I was looking for the cure for to save someone else. Someone else had caught the disease and I couldn't sit back and watch him die."

Ember looked over at Spyro, "Who?"

Spyro scratched under his left horn with his back left foot like a cat would. He looked up and a bird flock flew over his head and into the trees. Spyro began walking around the lake with Ember catching back up and walking beside him.

They walked about an eighth around the lake until Spyro answered, "My father caught the deadly disease."

Ember looked up into the clouds then looked back ahead, "Oh I see."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Around a week before Spyro's disappearance_

The bell rung meaning it was time to go home. Spyro stood up off the playmat and gave a small smile to Ember although she could tell it was forced.

"Well I'll see you tomorrow Ember."

Ember made a smile back, "Ok Spyro I'll see you tomorrow."

Spyro walked by some of his classmates with his head down and low. Mrs. Rune studied Spyro as he made his way out the classroom door until he was gone.

"No one should have gone through what you have",Mrs. Rune thought. She returned to her duties on her desk, writing some records on an important sheet of paper.

Spyro walked out the front school door and saw some dragon younglings making their way to their mothers. Spyro looked around and sighed. He walked by a few of his classmates who gave him a few worried looks. Spyro walked onto the sidewalk and began his lonely walk home. Ember watched her friend just walk away. She thought about tagging along to comfort him but she would be in trouble if she didn't go straight home after school. She knew he was feeling bad about something but she didn't know what it was. She also noticed that his mother hadn't been picking him up recently. Ember had no idea why, but her curiosity was urging her to find out.

Spyro slowly but surely made his way back home where his father was waiting for him. Spyro passed by a few dragons who made a quick greeting but was sadly ignored. When Spyro finally arrived at his home his father opened the front door for him. His father smiled with the sun reflecting his shiny orange scales and his yellow wings were folded back. He was about six to seven times bigger than Spyro and he had some frills on his cheekbones. Some spines ran down his back just like Spyro's did and his horns were curved back. Spyro looked up into his green eyes with a dead expression.

"Come on in, I got a snack for you in the kitchen if your hungry",his father greeted with a smile.

"I'm ok for now dad. I'm just tired." Spyro made his way inside his home. He breathed in what smelled like lemons and breathed back out. He looked around in his living room and laid down on the nearest couch there was available.

Spyro's father picked up his drink he left on the coffee table in front of the couch and sat down beside Spyro.

"Spyro, there's something I have to tell you. It's important and I need you to understand",Spyro's father exhaled deeply.

Spyro sat up on the couch instead of being slouched like he was, "What is it? Am I in trouble?"

"No it's something else. I really don't know how to say this and I know this is so sudden but",the orange dragon deeply sighed, "I'm dieing Spyro."

"Wha what?",Spyro stuttered with confusion. "But you can't die! Mom just died and I can't lose you too! Please!"

"I'm sorry Spyro. But I caught the disease your mom had. The one that killed her. I have around five years left in me."

"But, there's gotta be something I can do!",Spyro objected.

His father smiled, "Just promise me to love me forever. That's all I could ever ask for."

Spyro wrapped his arms as much as he could around his father as a tear came down his cheek, "No! There has to be something we could do! I could get medicine for you! Maybe that would help."

The orange dragon slightly shook his head, "There is no medicine to cure what I have. I tried to find the cure for your mother but I only ended up in failure."

Spyro thought then asked, "You mean when you were gone for a whole year? You were looking for medicine?"

"A sort of medicine. The only cure for the disease I have is in one of the world's most rarest of mushrooms. Legends say that this mushroom sap has some sort of healing properties but legends can't always be trusted."

"But what if this legend is true? Then that means that",Spyro began.

His father interrupted, "I looked Spyro, believe me I traveled through forests and swamps in search for it but I never even came close."

"I'll find it for you!",Spyro exclaimed.

The orange dragon smiled, "I know you would Spyro. I wouldn't want you to go throughout your childhood without any parents but this disease is slowing me down and I'm afraid I won't be able to help you look for I would only become a burden to you."

Spyro then realized what he meant, "What? You mean."

"Yes Spyro, it is your choice if you want to help me or not. I would much rather you go so you won't get this disease either, but like I said before it's your choice. Your young for something like this, but you are special and I know your the one who can get things done. And so I will teach you the ways of fire, which should help you out. I will give you some time to make your choice but regardless of your choice I need you in the backyard so I can help you learn more of fire."

Spyro nodded, "Alright dad."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Present Day_

"I can't believe your father caught the disease. Did you ever find the cure to save him?",Ember bravely asked. They were halfway around the lake now and were still walking.

"Now now, a good story can't be rushed. After I learned my dad caught the disease I thought hard on the decision at hand. I could stay with my dad with the risk of getting sick like him or try and find this mushroom which is thought to never exist."

Ember looked toward the trees toward her left and spotted and deer making a run for it into the forest, "Sounds like a tough decision. What did you do?"

Spyro resumed his story after knocking a pebble into the lake causing a small sploosh, "Well as I thought about it time passed and before I knew it my father was teaching me some things about fire. Like launching fireballs, controlling my fire breath, sending fire into my paws for some heavy close range fighting, that sort of thing. It took a few continuous hours but I managed."

The two stayed quiet for a little while longer as they made their way a little over three-fourths around the lake. Spyro looked over at Ember to see her clearly in thought. After a few more steps she finally asked, "So you evidently made your choice to find the mushroom? I mean that was why you were gone six years right?"

Spyro laughed, "Yea I did. My father was too worried I would catch what he had. Although catching that disease would be very hard, but he didn't want to risk it."

"So he made the choice?",Ember asked in confusion.

"No, I did. I was confident that I could find it so I set out to find it with the help of a few unsuspecting friends."

"You made knew friends?",Ember murmured. "Are they here?"

"They're not here, probably busy for the moment for introducing. How about we go see what else lies beyond this little forest? That is if your with me?"

Ember immediately answered, "Of course, I would like to hear more of this story of yours. Did you run into any dangers?"

Ember waited for an answer but Spyro never responded. Seemed as if he didn't hear her but she tagged along with him anyways. They made a full circle around the lake and Spyro was leading them back into the forest which from there, they were going to explore as Spyro told his story.


	3. Spyro's Tussle

Chapter 3 Spyro's Tussle

Spyro and Ember made it back out the forest from which they came. Spyro led Ember right along whatever trees were left of the forest and into the open. It was strange through. All this open and hardly no forest. However it made seeing another little forest up ahead a little ways and Ember figured that was where they were heading for the moment.

"My new friends names are Sparx and Flame. Flame is this red dragon I met in this village I came across while on my travels. He's about my age. As for Sparx, he's this dragonfly."

"Dragonfly?", Ember giggled, "Could it do any tricks?"

"He can talk",Spyro smirked.

"Talk? Like . . . real words?"

Spyro laughed, "Yea like me talking to you right now."

"Wow, he must be smart."

Spyro was about to burst, "Smart? Don't get me started."

Ember changed to a confused dragon, "So he's . . . I don't know, stupid?"

"No no",Spyro laughed. "He's, well, annoying at some points. But that's Flame's problem."

"So how did Sparx help you out?",Ember asked running ahead with the story.

"Well the only thing I'll say for right now is that he was pretty much like a flying light bulb. You know, helped us through some dark danky places and such."

"Ah so how did Flame help out?",Ember asked as she walked around a small patch of sand to stay in the grass. A few trees were here and there but it was still a pretty open and deserted plain. A few daisies were here and there along with it's bumblebee or butterfly fluttering above them.

"Well for now I'll just go back to my decision making. You already know I decided to go find the mushroom of course. After about two days of continuous training my dad taught me about the lands around the village and some places I might find some help at. After all I was four years old."

"It must has been frightening to be all by yourself",Ember said.

Spyro nodded, "It was. It was real nerve racking but without my dad I don't know what I have done at the time. My dad didn't want anyone to know of the disease for just having the disease would mean execution."

"Oh my, execution?"

"Yea, since there was no cure found at the time and the disease being so deadly, the only thing any dragon could do to protect himself is to kill the one with the disease so he himself wouldn't catch it. If anyone found out it would be devastating. But this disease is unique in its own way."

"How so?",asked Ember.

"It takes about 5 to 6 years for it to completely kill someone. It's one of the most slowiest working ever discovered. It slowly shuts down your immune system leaving you vunerable to other viruses and such."

"I see now. So from what I recall no one knew you was missing until a few hours after you left."

"My dad helped me get out the village for no one would ever approve of a child leaving. So me and my dad had to pull a few strings to get by the villagers without arrousing suspicion. It worked but they found out I was missing sooner than expected I believe."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Spyro's escape_

Spyro and his father were walking down the village roads being carefully watched by some other mindful dragons. The twosome ignored them as they walked toward the outskirts of the village where the forest trail began. Spyro looked around to see that all the dragons were no longer visible and that only he and his dad was left. Spyro's father stopped near the beginning of the forest and sighed.

"Okay Spyro",his father coughed. "Your on our own now. You know what you must do. You remember the way?"

Spyro nodded, "Yes I do. I must head to the village on the other side of this forest where I will ask around if anyone has seen the mushroom that we need."

"You got it. Just remember your training and you will be fine. Always remember that no matter what happens, I will always love you."

"Okay dad. I'll make you better you'll see. I'll come back with the medicine and your gonna fell all better."

His father smiled, "If you ever feel like your not up to the challenge your always welcome to come back home at any time you like." Spyro went and hugged his father one last time before the little dragon set off on his first ever adventure. A tear came down his fathers eye. "It's hard to let you go Spyro, but I know that your going to be back here one day. If your journey gets too dangerous then don't do anything reckless."

"Okay dad, just wait and I'll bring that mushroom back and everything is going to be alright."

Spyro let go of his father and looked into the forest. His father spoke, "Now you must quickly leave before anyone sees us. If they see you running off then they are going to find out about my sickness."

Spyro nodded and took off straight into the forest leaving his own father behind in wait. Five years was plenty of time but the more time passed the more the villagers will get suspicious so he must make this journey a quick one of he was going to succeed.

Spyro's father made his way back toward his home for the time being. As he made his way back he heard some commotion in one of the houses he was passing by. Shrugging it off he slowly and casually made his way back toward home.

Meanwhile inside that house the conversation was stirring.

"You see him? Spyro isn't with him now",Draconis pointed through the window as Spyro's father walked by. Draconis is a greenish red dragon with a yellow underbelly. His golden yellow wings expanded a little wider than the average dragon and his green eyes could see miles away easily. His rugged horns were curved just a bit back and his tail ended with a triangular yellow diamond shape.

Selvinus just stared at Draconis, "Right, and I suppose that you think Spyro is off in the forest or some forgotten land somewhere now eh? Well I'm not buying it. He's the purple dragon but come on, he's four. He's not going anywhere for a pretty long time."

Draconis walked toward the door for a better look, "Believe what you want Selvinus but I knew something was up with him and his father. Have you actually watched his father lately? He seems a little weird to me also."

Selvinus cocked an eye, "How so?"

"Well",Draconis began as he put a paw on the doorknob, "He's been a bit less lively lately. Like his energy has been sucked out of him."

Selvinus laughed, "He's old you idiot, old dragons do that."

"No this time it's different. I don't know how to explain it. Also Spyro hasn't been going to school lately from what the news tells me."

"And where do you get your news Draconis?"

Draconis shook his head, "Like I said, believe what you want but I'm going to go check on where Spyro went off to."

Selvinus stood up off his chair, "Fine, I better go with you so you won't get lost again."

"That wasn't my fault the map that sales lady sold me was outdated!"

"Which would explain why it was so cheap I suppose?"

"Gah, lets just get going."

Draconis and Selvinus left the small home and Draconis locked the door. The two looked to the right where Spyro's father was headed and they began walking left down the dirt road. Dirt in the middle and grass on the sides. Selvinus wondered why the roads couldn't just be all grass so his paws wouldn't get so dirty for he ran a lot of errands as a job. A few minutes later the twosome arrived at the path to the forest. Draconis was staring toward the ground as if it were made of gold and he could see his own reflection. He was following two sets of prints, one big, one small.

"I see four sets of prints here, looks like Spyro had three buddies."

Selvinus shook his head, "You my friend, are an idiot. Dragons have FOUR legs not two."

Draconis smiled in stupidity, "Oh right. Well from the looks of thing one set heads into the forest and the other heads back."

Selvinus took a close look, "And it seems Spyro's head into the forest, and he's unaccompanied."

"See, I told you",Draconis said. "I was right!"

"Yea, yea thats five to twenty-six now."

"No twenty-five, the one about my sister falling down the stairs doesn't count."

Selvinus rolled his eyes, "Right, sure. Well lets see where Spyro is headed off to shall we?"

"You go do that and I'll follow old rusty bones",Draconis muttered.

"His name is",Selvinus began but stopped when he realized Draconis was already on the move and was ignoring him.

Selvinus shrugged his shoulder, "What's the use if he just ignores you?"

Selvinus turned and began following the tracks straight into the forest.

_Meanwhile_

Spyro walked down the path of the forest. He heard something rustling in the distance to his right making him look.

"Just some deer",Spyro said to himself. "Nothing to be scared of."

Spyro continued his walk through the forest. A few minutes later he heard a hiss coming from somewhere nearby. Spyro frantically scanned the area and spotted a small green snake blocking the road. Spyro smiled and walked up leaving at least twelve inches between him and the snake.

"Hello there",Spyro greeted. The snake just hissed back.

Spyro lowered his head, "What are you doing out here?"

The snake sat then quickly turned around and began making its way back into the forest leaving a small trail in the dirt. Spyro looked at the small trail then look back down the dirt path. He noticed the tracks he was leaving in the dirt. Then Spyro began thinking.

"I should get rid of my tracks or I could get caught."

Spyro looked down and placed his paw on the dirt. He lifted his paw and examined the print he left. "Someone could follow me and they would find out about my dad. But how?"

Spyro looked around then heard some more rustling nearby. Spyro looked around for a quick second thinking it was more deer or wildlife. So he continued to think on his plan. His thinking was interrupted again by the rustling. It was coming from a nearby bush Spyro spotted, whatever it was. Spyro looked at the bush suspiciously and slowly made his way toward it. It was a pretty big bush which could swallow Spyro easily. In fact it was big enough to hide something. He made his close to the bush and carefully used his nose to take a sniff.

"Hm",Spyro thought. "Berries don't smell like that."

At that time a red paw came out the bushes and grabbed Spyro's horn and quickly pulled him into the bushes so fast that Spyro didn't have time to even blink. Spyro was inside the bush along with whatever pulled him. Spyro quickly swung his small claws everywhere whilst still hanging in the air.

"I'll get you!",Spyro threatened. "I'll torch you if you don't let me go!"

"Stop!",the dragon ordered. But Spyro still continued to swing his claws.

"Put me down!",Spyro exclaimed.

"Calm down!",the dragon snapped as he looked out the bushes to see another dragon coming down the path around thirty yards away.

"If you don't put me down! You'll be sorry you ever messed with Spyro the dragon!"

The dragon cocked an eye, "So you're Spyro? Firedrake told me all about you."

Spyro immediately stopped squirming, "You mean?"

The dragon interrupted with a whisper, "Say nothing. Someone is coming."

The dragon put Spyro down and Spyro immediately rubbed his left horn. "You could have hurt me you know",Spyro whispered back.

Selvinus followed the tracks with wonder and thoughts running through his mind. Then Selvinus heard a rustle. He looked up and around. He noticed a green snake slithering through the leaves off the edge of the trail. Selvinus ignored the snake and continued to follow the prints. Then he stopped.

"That's odd",Selvinus said to himself. "Spyro's footprints are . . . gone?"

Selvinus quickly looked around, "Spyro!",Selvinus called out.

Spyro's muzzle was covered by the dragons paw in the bush that was big enough to make a hideout out of. Now Selvinus was confused. He studied the last of the prints and decided to turn back. There was no use in going on ahead for there was no telling where Spyro has gone off to. So he turned back to report the news to his superior. The elder of the village.

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Back To Spyro and Ember_

"How soon was it until someone found out you were gone?",Ember asked while she looked ahead at the little forest up ahead. It would be only a few minutes until they reached it.

Spyro looked up and the blue skies, "It was actually a few minutes. However I was assisted in evading the dragon that was following my tracks."

"Hmm",Ember frowned. "What did he look like?"

Spyro thought back then answered, "It's hard to say for I really didn't get a good look. But I was able to get a glimpse of yellow and scales and his belly was blue I believe."

"Sounds like Selvinus",Ember replied. "He sort of worked for my father a while back." Ember walked a few more steps beside her friend then asked, "Who was that dragon who helped you out?"

Spyro smiled, "His name was Ignitus."


	4. Warning! Dangers Ahead

Oh my has it really been two weeks since the last update? Wow I'm sorry time just flew by for me and I didn't realize. If anyone wants to chat with me you would have to pm me by dragonadopters. The reason my update was slow is because my internet at home is downm and I can only pm people by dragonadopters. My dragonadopters screename is Flame215 for its the only site I can pm people on my cellphone. A link to it is in my profile. Anyways enjoy the chapter!

Chapter 4 Warning! Dangers Ahead . . .

Spyro and Ember stopped in front of the next little forest which was a few feet away now. Spyro swatted away a troublesome fly and walked over into the forest with Ember. There really was no marked trails so the twosome made their own path. With each step, leaves cracked startling some nearby wildlife. A bird chirped from her nest then flew toward the two dragons. Spyro watched the bluebird stop a few feet away from him hovering in the air just watching the two dragons with the most curious eyes. Ember smiled at the bird then the bird chirped and flew back to her nest knocking one of her loose feathers off. The feather floated down to the leaves and Ember walked over and picked it up and examined it.

"So what exactly are we doing here?",she asked.

Spyro walked toward Ember with a faceless expression, "It's better than sitting in a bush isn't it?"

"Yea that's true. Wonder if there's anything in this forest."

"One way to find out",Spyro replied seeming more lively.

The two walked onwards into the depths of the woods while Spyro told his story to pass the time.

"Ignitus told me that he was going to help. As soon as he said that he was sent by Firedrake I immediately knew he was with me."

"Firedrake?",Ember thought then said, "Oh yea how silly of me. Go on."

Spyro made a slight smile then continued, "We waited for a little while in our hiding spot to make sure that the coast was clear. But I fell asleep of waiting."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Edge of the Forest Six Years Ago_

Ignitus looked down to see Spyro was beginning to doze off. He smiled as he took a peek around the bush down the trail seeing no one in sight. He heard very faint noises toward the village which made him have second thoughts of leaving his hiding spot. Then he heard a faint snore. He looked down at Spyro to see him curled up at his paws just sleeping peacefully.

"You need your sleep. I'll wake you when the time is right."

An hour passed. Spyro was still snoozing and Ignitus was beginning to doze off himself. It was beginning to rain meaning he had to wake Spyro up. Ignitus didn't notice the clouds taking form in the sky. He layed on his belly with his paws under his chin with a sigh. But it was more of a tired sigh. Then out of the blue he heard someone yell.

"Spyro!"

Ignitus shot up in alert. He looked at Spyro who was beginning to stir in his slumber. Spyro stretched with a yawn then smiled at Ignitus.

"Oh hello there",Spyro whispered.

Ignitus put a paw over Spyro's muzzle, "Speak not someone is coming to us", he whispered back.

"Spyro! Where are you!"

Spyro realized that voice. He quickly peeked out of the bush to see a glimpse of pink coming toward them then was quickly snatched back in the bush. He looked at Ignitus who was shaking his head from side to side. Then Spyro heard some raindrops splashing against the trees.

"Spyro!",he heard. He wanted to show himself so badly but the other dragon just wouldn't simply allow it.

"Ember!"

Spyro immediately froze. Someone else was here and he didn't sound like the type he would have wanted to be seen by.

"Ember!",the voice yelled.

Spyro tried to struggle away from Ignitus but his grasp was too tight for his arm. Ember looked over at the bush with more of a worried look than a startled one.

"Ember! There you are!"

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Present Day_

"So it was you in that bush! I knew it! I should have checked but my dad caught up to me and made us turn back."

Spyro couldn't help but show a smirk on his face. It seemed though that the forest they were in was bigger than they thought. All there was was trees, leaves, and the occasional chirp of a bird. Not even deer was spotted making it a pretty lonely forest. A few more clouds were beginning to form in the sky but Spyro couldn't hardly tell for the trees were blocking the sight.

"Yea, I wanted to just jump out that bush and show myself but Ignitus held me back. He did have a cramp after we got out of that bush hehe. Too small for him. The whole time he was scrunched up in it. After you and your father left me and Ignitus began walking down the trail to the so called village existing on the other side. It was a pretty big forest. Took us almost three days to get to the other side. We tried flying but my wings wasn't fully grown at the time. I got over the tree tops but then I glided back down no matter how many times I tried."

"Three days? Wow, it must have been harsh."

Spyro looked around the scenery he was in. Same thing everywhere he looked, trees. "Well it was but if it wasn't for Ignitus it may have been even worse."

Then Spyro began hearing a very faint sound in the distance. He also noticed a clearing a little ways where that sound was coming from.

"Hear that?",Spyro asked as he listened.

Ember sat quiet for a second then answered, "Sounds like, running water."

Then suddenly Spyro heard a rustling in the trees. It wasn't the wind, something unnatural was making it. He looked around then Ember gasped.

"Spyro! What is that?!",Ember pointed up into the tree limbs above them.

Spyro looked up to see an eight-legged hairy giant spider. The spider was rolling up something in its web then it looked down at the two dragons. The spider hissed then let loose its grip of its web pounding itself onto the ground. The spider was a little smaller than Ember but it was still a threat. The spider quickly shot web silk at Ember, the closest target. Ember tried to run but the silk caught her like a net.

"Help!",she yelled.

The spider hissed as it made its way toward Ember. Spyro blew a flamethrower in between the spider and Ember. The flames made the spider jump back startled, burning some of the web off Ember in the process. But she was still stuck. The spider hissed and leaped for Spyro. Spyro leaped to the side as the spider tumbled then caught itself. The spider shot its web at Spyro making Spyro breathe hot fire melting the web. Spyro quickly used the opportunity and shot a fireball at the spider. The spider leaped sideways but the blast was big enough to catch its leg on fire. The spider squealed as the fire spread and the spider quickly crawled toward Spyro in an attempt to pass of the fire. But it was too late for the fire was too much for it making the spider collapse, turning itself into a burned corpse.

Spyro sighed but realized the fire was beginning to spread from the spider to the leaves. Spyro quickly kicked all the leaves out of the way leaving a dirt circle around the dead spider. Then Spyro kicked up sand onto the fire, smothering it and putting it out. Spyro sighed a sense of relief then sat back in relaxation.

"Umm, a little help please?"

Spyro looked up and realized that Ember still had the web on her. He laughed at his stupidity.

"I'm sorry",he apologized as he walked to her and began picking at the web.

Ember looked a little freaked out but managed, "It's alright. I just never seen anything like that before. It was very startling. And this stuff is so sticky. Ugh it stinks a little too."

Spyro began getting frustrated at the web. The more he tried the more entangled he became in it. Then he hatched an idea. Spyro shut his eyes in concentration and began pushing the power of fire into his paws. His purple paws began turning to a red tinted color and began to steam. The web crinkled at the heat and slowly the web was being burned to nothing.

Finally the web was off Ember and Spyro and Ember sighed in relief.

"No wonder there is no wildlife here. Let's hope there aren't any more",Spyro said as he began walking toward the clearing.

Ember sat for a second then said, "You mean we're still going? Even after that?"

Spyro shrugged, "Why not?"

Ember frowned then began to follow her leader, "Alright but if something like that happens again your gonna have to protect me."

Spyro smiled, "Well of course."

The two for a few minutes until Spyro broke the silence with his story.

"That reminded me of when me and Ignitus were going through the forest to the other village, which is where I stopped my story."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Somewhere in the forest six years ago_

The raindrops continued to fall through the trees as Ignitus and Spyro walked down the trail. Ignitus held his wing over Spyro giving him shelter from the rain but he had been doing it for quite a while and was getting tired. Spyro seemed to take notice.

"I'm fine mr. Dragon you can put your wing down."

Ignitus shook his head, "I don't want you to get sick. And I forgot to tell you my name is Ignitus."

Spyro walked faster than Ignitus getting out from under his wing, "Ok then Ignitus. I'm fine see? I'm not sick."

"But you will be. You'll catch a cold in this weather, if you want to help then tell me when you see somewhere we could sleep and keep out of the rain. As for now please stay out of the rain."

"Oh alright",Spyro frowned. "If I have to."

"Good",Ignitus replied as Spyro walked under his right wing.

They continued down the path for a little more ways. The sun was going to set soon and Ignitus wanted to find someplace to spend the night. To make matters worse the rain was beginning to pour. The trees provided only little shelter but pretty soon it wouldn't be enough. As the minutes passed and the sun set there was very little conversation between the two. Spyro spotted a couple of red flowers just off the path to his right. He watched them as he passed by then asked Ignitus the question that was rambling through his mind for the last few minutes.

"So how did you and Firedrake meet Ignitus?"

Ignitus kept his pace as he thought for a second to that day, "We met in the village we are traveling to now. I heard some rumors of a dragon looking for a rare mushroom for its cure to that sickness your father has. I managed to find him and I helped him out in his expeditions into the forests in search for it. Although we were never successful."

Spyro replied with a little stammer in his voice, "Firedrake is my dad. Did you know?"

"Yes I know",Ignitus indicated.

They walked for a few more minutes and the sun's orange rays was beginning to fade. Ignitus considered going off the path to look for shelter but he didn't want to get lost in the winding trails of the forest. The more they walked the more tired and worried Ignitus became. Not for him but for Spyro. Ignitus was responsible for Spyro now. If something ever happened to Spyro Ignitus could never forgive himself. Just a few moments later Spyro interrupted the silence.

"What is that over there?",Spyro pointed a little off the path on his right. The trees and the bushes camouflaged it but Ignitus could make out what it was.

"Looks like a cave. Lucky us. We should get over there before the darkness consumes the forest."

The two carefully made their way over there avoiding briar vines and the poisoned leaves that were abound in the area. That was one reason Ignitus wanted to stay on the path. Because of all the dangers in the forest the path is the safest place of the forest. When they finally made it to the cave Ignitus immediately began gathering some sticks and crinkled leaves to start a fire. Putting them all in one pile he blew a small stream of fire starting the small fire to get himself dry from the rain. Spyro watched the fire spark then start up then carefully made his way closer to it. Ignitus smiled then began gathering more leaves to make a type of bed for Spyro. He topped the pile off with some spanish moss.

"Is that where I'm sleeping?",Spyro asked as he rubbed his two front paws together in front of the fire.

"It's better than the cold hard cave floor",Ignitus folded his wings back in relaxation.

Suddenly there was a hiss. The hiss had a faint echo making Ignitus look behind him in alarm. He squinted his eyes in the darkness of the back of the cave then realized something. He and Spyro wasn't alone. Whatever it was it hissed again, this time it was closer. Spyro took a few steps back in fear while Ignitus held his ground. Then the light of the fire revealed what it was. A giant spider twice as big as Spyro. The spider hissed and leaped for Ignitus. Ignitus quickly blew fire in front of the spider's jump path setting it on fire. The spider squealed as it burned. It ran around for a few seconds before it collapsed in front of spider. Before it died it swung its leg at Spyro but missed only by inches.

Then two more spiders appeared out of the darkness. Spyro quickly looked around the cragged cave in fear. He ran behind Ignitus for cover and Ignitus swung his claws out at one of the spiders knocking it aside with a large scratch on its side. It hissed as the other shot a web net at Ignitus only to be burned by his flame. Ignitus swung his tail to his right hitting the spider with the scratch on his side. The spider stumbled backwards then leaped for Ignitus's face. Ignitus ducked and the spider landed near the mouth of the cave. Ignitus shot a fireball at the spider in front of him making it run back into the darkness.

"Ignitus!",Spyro exclaimed.

Ignitus looked behind him to see a spider dragging Spyro by the leg toward the mouth of the cave. Spyro dug his claws into the ground trying to get away but the spider kept dragging him. Ignitus ran over to Spyro and swung his claws at the spiders leg that was dragging Spyro. Ignitus cut the spiders leg off making a green goo squirt out of its decapitated leg. The spider hissed in pain and Ignitus finished it off simply by squashing it like the bug it was with his giant paw. Spyro staggered back to his feet. Spyro immediately ran over to Ignitus and hugged him on his left front leg with relief.

"Everything is alright now Spyro",Ignitus assured.

Spyro let loose his grip, "I was so scared, I'm glad that you were here."

Ignitus nodded, "I'll go check the back of the cave to see if there are any more so we can sleep in peace. Stay by the fire and wait for me."

Spyro understood, "Ok Ignitus."

Spyro watched Ignitus walk into the darkness and disappear. He could still hear the patter of his footsteps echoing in the cave which did comfort him a little more. After a few minutes Ignitus came back to Spyro.

"Is it safe?",Spyro asked.

Ignitus nodded his head, "It is, now we must get some sleep while we wait for the storm to pass."

Spyro curled up on his spanish moss bed while Ignitus kept watch for a little while longer. A few minutes later Ignitus heard the faint snoring of Spyro giving him the sign that he was sleeping peacefully. The storm began to make its toll. The sound of the rain was slowly lulling Ignitus to his slumber. Eventually they were both sleeping peacefully while the storm was also beginning to sleep.

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

"Sounded scary, I don't know if I could have slept in that cave",Ember said.

Spyro looked ahead at the clearing. They were almost at the other end of the forest. The more he walked the more familiar things seemed like he had been here before especially that sound of running water. The sunlight was gleaming in the clearing making it hard to make out what was there but they kept on going.

"I was scared but knowing that Ignitus was with me gave me comfort."

The two walked until they emerged out of the forest. Ember was amazed at what she was looking at and Spyro realized why it seemed so familiar.

"Wow, this is amazing!",Ember exclaimed.

Spyro smiled in realization as he looked upon the land in front of him.


	5. But Don't Let That Stop You

I'm sorry to keep you waiting for a month for an update but I was just going through one of those 'I'm quitting fanfiction' moments. Well while some people would just move on I'm willing to make up for that mistake so I worked triple time time writing three chapters instead of one and I'm working on chapter 8 right now. Enjoy!

Chapter 5

. . . But Don't Let That Stop You

The open lands were now before the two dragons. They looked at the green grass plains and all the most beautiful trees. A river was flowing in front of them which flowed all across the plains. Birds chirped and the crickets sung to their hearts content.

"Ah, the valley of Avalar, one of the most beautiful places I have come across during my travels. A great place to just sit back and relax",Spyro replied.

Ember stood in awe. Everything she saw was just perfect. From the music the birds made or just the scenery that stood before her.

"I read about this place in books but I didn't realize how close it actually was",Ember softly said.

Spyro looked up into the sky. He guessed it was about 1 pm or so and returned his attention toward Ember. She was laying down on soft green grass with a drained look on her face.

"What's up?",Spyro asked.

Ember responded a few seconds later, "Getting tired. We've been walking for like an hour and we were attacked."

"And I should be escorting you back home. Your dad my be getting worried."

"Who cares about my dad? He can be pushy sometimes and when I'm away, I'm happy."

Spyro watched the river flow for a few seconds then sluggishly made his way over to Ember. "I don't know what to say. I didn't know he was like that. I only seen him a few times in my life and he seemed to be a pretty nice being."

Ember sighed, "Yea, well your wrong. Like a year ago I noticed my room was getting a bit messy so I took about an hour of my time cleaning it. When I finished I told my dad so he could go and look. When he saw just the slightest thing out of place he began yelling at me. Thing was I cleaned it on my own free will he could have at least praised me for it or something but no. He put me on restriction for a month meaning I couldn't go to school for a month."

Spyro grew surprised, "What? He can't do that!"

"He did, I was stuck inside my own home for a month. A place I used to call home I now call a prison."

Spyro thought for a second then replied, "I see why you don't want to go back there right now. I wouldn't want to. Tell you what, as long as I'm here you don't have to go back. It will be your time and your choice."

Ember thought for a second at Spyro's response then said, "Now I don't know what to say but thank you. You have no idea how grateful I am. Hopefully I'll be able to make it up somehow."

"Don't worry about it",Spyro chuckled. "Just me having company is all I want."

Ember stared at the river with a clear smile of gratitude on her face. "I'm just gonna rest here for a few minutes. If I fall asleep, wake me."

Spyro watched the scenery in thought. It was clear that Ember wasn't as fit as he was. He was a bit worried about when she was going to decide to go home. That's if she even decided to go home. Spyro already figured out some things has changed since he left him original hometown.

Spyro looked at Ember and sighed. He held some secrets in his head that Ember needed to know about but he didn't want to tell her any of them anytime soon, especially one of them. Ember was one of Spyro's best friends even though they had been separated for years.

Slowly the sound of the river lulled Ember to sleep like a lullaby. Spyro took notice of her nap but leaved her be. He didn't want to disturb her quite yet so he spent his time in the past.

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Second Day in the Forest Six years ago_

Spyro flapped his wings as fast and hard as he could but he just wasn't going anywhere.

"Come back down from there",Ignitus called out into a tree beside the cave he spent the night in. Spyro was on a limb a few yards up.

"But Ignitus",Spyro began.

"No buts get down, now."

Spyro sighed as he began climbing back down the tree like a cat. "You sounded like my dad there",Spyro muttered.

Spyro slowly made his way down having a bee buzz by his head. "Help!", Spyro yelled.

Ignitus sighed, "The bee is not going to hurt you just come down."

"I don't wanna",Spyro remarked.

Ignitus didn't want to bring up the subject but did so anyways, "Need I remind you about your dad?"

Spyro began moving again in defeat. Suddenly his claw seemed to slip out of the tree bark making him fall onto Ignitus's back with a thud. Spyro rubbed his head thanking his horns for breaking his fall. Then he noticed what actually broke his fall.

"Are you alright Spyro?",Ignitus asked seeming unhurt by Spyro's horns.

"Yea but are you?"

Ignitus chuckled, "It will take more than that to hurt me."

"Hey can I ride on your back?",Spyro asked with a smile.

"I'd rather you walk for now Spyro."

"Poo to you too",Spyro said as he jumped down off his back.

Ignitus gave Spyro a weird look then began thinking of the task at hand. Getting to the village. He looked through the bushes and by the few trees and spotted the path. He thoroughly searched for any harmful obstacles in the way such as poisoned leaves and thorns. Spyro closely followed Ignitus until they were safely on the path and heading in the right direction.

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

Spyro didn't realize that he too was slowly dozing off. He shook his head of flashbacks and turned to Ember. She seemed peacefully asleep. Spyro didn't want to wake her but boredom was beginning to set in. He didn't want to wake her but he didn't want to leave her for her to wake up to find Spyro was gone. Spyro sighed then curled up in the patch of grass he had been sitting in then closed his eyes to the peaceful sounds of nature.

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Meanwhile_

Mrs. Rune sat at her desk scribbling something on a paper while the class just sat reading their books and having their fun. She was teaching fifth grade now which was the class Ember was in and Mrs. Rune began taking attendance. She looked up and realized Ember was gone.

"Has anyone seen Ember?",Mrs. Rune asked the class.

The class looked at one another then one of them answered, "I saw her about an hour ago outside the school."

Then another classmate added in, "Me and my friend was walking by and we heard some noises like someone talking coming from the bush near the front door if that helps."

Mrs. Rune thought about the answers she heard then asked, "Anybody else have any other information?"

It took a couple of seconds to hear an answer but then Mrs. Rune heard, "Now that I think about it I did see something heading off toward the small forest behind the school a while back."

Mrs. Rune seemed to be interested and asked, "What did it look like?"

"Well it was pink and it looked like Ember, but I thought she was just going for a walk with some other dragon."

"Other dragon? Why didn't someone tell me this before? What did this other dragon look like and exactly how long ago did you see them?"

"Erm . . . it was almost an hour and a half ago. During lunch and recess. The other dragon seemed to look a tiny bit bigger than the pink one and he was purple if I recall."

"Purple? Anyone ever seen a purple dragon in this school before?"

"Nope Mrs. Rune",someone responded.

Mrs. Rune seemed to be getting a little worried now, "I'll be right back everyone I gotta go check up on something."

Mrs. Rune left the classroom and headed for the one place she could sort it all out. She headed down the hall and past all of the lockers and walked into a room simply labeled 'records'.

_"Something about this seems familiar to me."_

Mrs. Rune opened the door revealing a good number of filing cabinets in the room and a small wooden table in the middle of it. It was a pretty plain room with hardly any decorations. Mrs. Rune scanned a few filing cabinets then slid one open to see a bunch of files in alphabetical order. She ran her paws across the files and began doing her research.

Some time passed until she came across a document dated six years back when she was teaching 4K. It was quite a while back for her but all the familiar pictures of that class was bringing back old memories. Then she came across one of Ember. She had a happy look on her face as she sat beside another dragon beside a toy box. Mrs. Rune closely studied that dragon. He was purple. Mrs. Rune flipped the picture over to see some writing on the back. Rune read Ember and Spyro then flipped the picture back over. Spyro had his head in the toybox not giving her a clearer look but she knew it was Spyro.

"_Spyro's back?_",Mrs Rune thought. She couldn't help but smile at the thought.

She placed the photo back in the folder and placed the folder back in the filing cabinet then left the room. She made her way back down the hall and by another red student dragon seeming to be on his way to the bathroom. Mrs. Rune opened the door to her room and stepped inside making any chatter inside cease. Mrs. Rune closed the door then sat behind her desk as she usually did.

"Did you find out anything Mrs. Rune?",asked a female blue dragon near the front of the classroom.

Mrs. Rune took a second to answer, "I did."

"Are we going to go get Ember back?",another dragon asked.

"No, we should let her be. She's just having a reunion of some sorts."

"What kind of reunion?"

"Someone she hasn't seen in six years. Let's leave it at that",Mrs. Rune said as she shuffled some papers into one pile at the corner of her desk. "Alright class your on your free time now so we are going to take a vote. Those of you who wants to go in the gym to play raise your paw."

Hardly no paws at all were raised toward the vote.

Mrs. Rune continued, "How about the outside playground?"

Immediately pretty much the whole class raised their hands. Twenty plus votes were counted so Mrs. Rune kept to her word and led the class to the back of the school to the playground until the last school bell rung as the symbol for them to go home.


	6. Familiar Faces, Beautiful Places

Chapter 6

Familiar Faces, Beautiful Places

"Wake up Spyro."

Spyro creaked his eyes open and slowly looked around.

"Yea Ember?",he responded but then noticed Ember was still asleep on the grass beside him.

Spyro quickly looked around for the source becoming ever so worried at who woke him.

"Don't be alarmed it is only I."

Spyro looked behind him to see a cheetah standing there with a brownish colored cloak on with a bow and a bronze decorated quiver of arrows on his back. It took Spyro a few seconds in thought to remember who he was then smiled at the friendly face.

"Hunter! Oh man it's great to see you! How have things been for you?"

Hunter seemed to be very still on his spot, "It has been good here I thank you for asking. Who is your friend?"

Spyro looked over at Ember then back at Hunter, "Her name is Ember, don't worry she's harmless."

"Was I supposed to be worried?",Hunter remarked.

Spyro shrugged as he yawned and stood up and stretched his limbs, "I should wake her up. Do you happen to have the time?"

Hunter looked up into the sky and examined the position of the sun, "Almost 2pm. Did you forget how to tell time by looking at the sun's position of do I have to tell you again?"

"It's alright I still know how just seeing if you knew."

"Yea, right. So are you and Ember . . . mates or something?"

"No we . . . what the . . . ? What the heck kind of question is that?!",Spyro snapped.

Hunter couldn't help but to chuckle at his joke, "Relax I was only kidding."

Ember slowly stirred for the conversation was making her wake up. Hunter looked at Spyro and slowly nodded in approval. Spyro walked over to Ember and began lightly shaking her shoulder.

"Hey Ember, wake up."

Ember slowly opened her eyes and spotted Spyro. She yawned, stood up and stretched, "Hello Spyro." Then she took notice of the cheetah.

"Ember, this is Hunter",Spyro introduced.

Ember didn't say anything for the moment but neither did Hunter so Spyro continued, "He helped me out a while back while on my adventures."

Hunter interrupted, "For you did help me first so I returned the favor."

"How did Spyro help you?",Ember asked.

Hunter began to start the story but Spyro cut him off, "Not at the moment Hunter. I meant to ask you what you were doing here earlier."

"I spotted you while searching for herbs so I decided to come over to see you and see if you were alright. The forest you were sleeping in front of is infested with spiders so I was a little worried when I saw the two of you. Turns out you were just sleeping here."

"Oh we know about the spiders, we fought against one earlier",Ember interrupted.

Hunter seemed alarmed by the news, "Were you hurt?"

Spyro answered, "No we're alright."

Relieved, Hunter said, "Alright, while I'm here anyone hungry?"

Spyro rubbed his stomach, "Now that I think of it I'm starved."

"Yea me too",Ember added.

"Well I'm still looking for some herbs but your welcome to come along if you want. I'll be heading back to the village once I have found some and we have plenty of food there."

Spyro nodded, "Sounds great Hunter, thanks."

Hunter just simply nodded and began walking beside the river against the flow in search of herbs. Ember walked beside Spyro with questions roaming through her mind which of course, Spyro noticed.

After about a minute or so Ember finally asked, "So Hunter helped you out in your travels. When and how if you don't mind me asking?"

A small grin showed on Spyro's face, "I'll be skipping ahead in my story a good ways if I do so I'll tell you about that later. However I will start back to where me and Ignitus were traveling to the village on the other side of the forest."

"You mean Barkwood?",Hunter interrupted.

"Barkwood?",Ember added.

Spyro sighed slightly, "Yea Barkwood."

"Sad really",Ember said. "Our village doesn't even have a name, my dad is too stubborn."

Spyro thought about what he heard for a second then replied, "Sounds as if your dad isn't really too great of a leader."

"I don't want to believe that",Ember responded. "It's too much. Just go ahead with your story, I would rather here that instead."

Hunter added in while he sat down on a nearby stump, "I would like to hear of this story also."

"Alright but could I tell it as we go? I am getting kinda hungry."

Hunter grinned and stood back up, "Always on the move as usual."

"Was you expecting less from me?",Spyro joked. "Well me and Ignitus traveled through the forest as we stayed on the trail for two more days getting under any shelter for rest or any little opening where he could build a fire without worrying on walking up to a burned up forest. We always ended up eating berries and the occasional fruit like an apple. As for dangers we really never encountered any other dangers unless you count snakes. You ran across a few of those but Ignitus scared them away with ease. When we finally arrived at Barkwood it was almost dusk."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Barkwood Six Years Ago_

"Are we there yet?",Spyro asked from the back of Ignitus. Ignitus finally let him ride on his back after he asked nicely for so many times. It was seemingly enjoyable for Spyro especially since he didn't have to walk.

However Ignitus didn't answer. He stayed on the path walking at a steady pace. After a few minutes Ignitus began hearing some noises coming from ahead. Ignitus looked the best he could and spotted a clearing.

"We are almost there Spyro. It's just ahead, do you see the clearing?"

Spyro did what he was told, "Yes, I see it."

"That is where the village is. Barkwood as some call it. It is there where we are going." Ignitus walked a few more steps then suddenly remembered something important he was supposed to tell Spyro. "I forgot to tell you about my son."

Spyro grew surprised at the sudden news, "You? Have a son? But your like a hundred years old?"

Ignitus chuckled, "Age doesn't matter Spyro as long as we are happy."

Spyro stayed mostly quiet the rest of the way. When they finally reached the clearing the forest opened up into a small prosperous village. The village of Barkwood. It seemed like the village was built in an opening of the forest because from what Spyro could see there were trees in the distance on the other side of Barkwood. A few dragons were roaming the streets, going back to their homes to enjoy the rest of their day together with their families before it got totally dark.

A road was cut straight through the village with huts on the left side of the road and what seemed like shops and places where you could get food at were on the other side. It was hard to tell what Barkwood contained from his point of view and to top it off it was beginning to get dark.

"We will go to my home for now Spyro. Tomorrow I can show you around the village so you can get to know it better.

"Are there any schools here?",Spyro asked with anticipation.

Ignitus smiled, "There is a small one on the other side of the village. My son goes there. However its only a kindergarten school."

"What does that mean?",Spyro asked trying to get the best look at Barkwood from Ignitus's back.

"It means the school only holds a nursery, 4k and 5k only."

"Oh ok."

Ignitus began his walk toward the village of Barkwood with Spyro still on his back. Ignitus walked down the middle road where Spyro was watching some dragons close up their shops or hurry to their homes. A few minutes passed. The scenery changed a little bit from instead of huts being on the left side they were on both sides now. Spyro saw a couple of forks in the roads but Ignitus stayed on the same middle road as before. Then Ignitus walked up to a particular large hut, two stories high. Ignitus knocked on the door then heard some footsteps coming toward the door.

"Remember, best behavior",Ignitus simply said just before the door opened.

"Yea, yea",Spyro replied as he looked at the dragon that opened it. It was a silver dragon almost the same size as Ignitus.

"Ignitus?",the dragon simply said.

"Hello Maia, miss me?",Ignitus began.

That was all Ignitus had to say before Maia leaned over and gave Ignitus a welcome back kiss. Spyro looked disgusted at the sight. A few seconds later Ignitus interrupted, "Sorry but I have company",he said regarding toward his back.

Maia looked up in surprise, "Oh hello there, I didn't see you up there. Hurry up and come in."

Maia stepped aside letting the Ignitus carry the lazy Spyro inside. Spyro quickly scanned the room. He was evidently in the living room for there were two blue soft couches side by side against the wall along with what looked like a bedside table at the end of it with a decorated lamp atop of it. A fireplace was in the corner in front of the two couches and a few paintings were hung on the wall, one of which looked like the village Spyro lived in. Another looked like a mountain with a river flowing down it. There was a door to his left which was open but almost pitch black inside and past all the couches to his right were stairs leading up to the second floor. A little further up on his left was the kitchen with a counter in the middle and shelves surrounding it.

"I forgot to tell you Spyro about Maia Spyro. She is my wife as you may have already figured out bu now. My son is probably upstairs."

"So your Spyro?",Maia asked. "Firedrake told us about you. Pleasure to finally meet you."

"It's nice to meet you too Maia",Spyro said whilst getting off Ignitus's back.

"Dad!",someone suddenly interrupted. Spyro looked over toward the stairs to see a small red dragon running straight toward Ignitus. He rushed past Spyro and gave Ignitus the biggest hug he could.

"This is our son Spyro",Maia interrupted then turned toward the red dragon. "Do you want to introduce yourself?"

Realizing the Maia was talking to him the red dragon smiled at the purple dragon sitting beside his father. "Hey, your Spyro! I heard about you! Nice to meet you, my name is Flame."

"Hello Flame",Spyro waved.

"Flame is about your age Spyro so if you want to be going to school you two will be in the same class",Ignitus interrupted.

"So Spyro wants to go to school here?",Maia asked.

"I don't think he's entirely sure about it yet",Ignitus answered.

Maia slightly nodded, "Alright but if you decide you do want to go to school here then just tell me, ok?"

Spyro nodded back, "Ok Maia, I will."

Maia smiled in response, "I'm gonna go finish cooking, seeing that your here Ignitus I could use some help in the kitchen."

Ignitus sighed, "Alright. Make yourself at home Spyro. Just don't leave the hut unless you either tell me or Maia."

"Ok Ignitus",Spyro replied as Maia and Ignitus walked into the kitchen leaving him and Flame in the living room.

"Wanna go see my room?",Flame asked.

Spyro sat for a second in thought then said, "Ok, sounds great."

Flame grinned and led Spyro up the stairs and by a bathroom on the left and a closed door on the right. After the closed door there was another door which Flame opened and walked inside. Spyro walked in behind Flame to see Flame's room to be more of a type of an indoor playground. A toybox was on the left on the wall with a basketball goal further to the right. A playmat was on the ground in front of the toybox and a few scattered balls were here and there. On the right was a door which led to Flame's closet and in the corner was Flame's bed. Beside his bed was a small table with some papers strode out on top of it and a slightly opened compartment. Straight ahead of Spyro was a window which he walked up to to take a look outdoors. It was almost dark now but he still managed to see the streets. He didn't see anyone roaming the streets though so he turned around to take another look around Flame's room.

"Pretty neat huh?",Flame asked.

Spyro just made a small grin as a response.

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

Hunter found the herbs he needed while Spyro told his story so the trio were now headed back toward the cheetahs village. Their search made them wander a little away from the river but Hunter knew the valley like no other.

"So that's how you and Flame met? Flame, Ignitus's son. Well both of them are red so I could see a resemblance",Ember said.

"Yea Flame's a good friend",Spyro responded. "You should meet him sometime."

Ember smiled, "Yea I would like that. What about this dragonfly?"

Spyro thought for a second then said, "You mean Sparx? I'm not rushing this story no matter how bad you want me to",Spyro chuckled.

"I know",Ember replied. "Just anxious to know."

"Right, so about how much longer Hunter? I'm starving."

Hunter looked in the distance then followed his ears to the sound of running water. "When we get to the river we'll follow it for about a mile or so. We should see the village by then."

"We could always",Ember started then flapped her wings a few times. "Fly there."

Spyro shook his head, "I would feel more comfortable with Hunter. I don't want to show up uninvited."

"I know what you mean",Ember said. "Well you could pass the time by telling your story",Ember smiled.

"I would but I need brain fuel",Spyro joked.


	7. Meeting Of The Minds

Authors note: Please note I posted three chapters instead of one so to those of you who used the little arrow thingy that takes you to the last chapter done, go back to chapter 5.

Chapter 7

Meeting Of The Minds

The fifth grade class had just got outside and a silver dragon sat by himself on a swing. He looked out in front of him at his other classmates then hung his head low with a sigh of boredom.

"Hey Magnus!"

Magnus looked around from the swing. He noticed a blue dragon coming toward him.

"Yea Lateef?", he responded as he hung his head low again.

Lateef stopped in front of the silver colored dragon then continued, "I've been thinking over the last couple of minutes. I'm worried about Ember."

Magnus seemed interested and lifted his head back up, "Why do you like her or something?"

"No no its just me and Ember have been friends for a few months and I'm beginning to worry on where she went. She's been gone for well over an hour."

Magnus looked ahead past the merry go round and saw the rest of the class grouped up as if they were deciding what game to play. "We still have about an hour of school left. Do you want to go look for her?

"Look for her? What about Mrs. Rune? What about the rest of the class? What will happen of they find out we are gone?"

"Do you just wanna sit here and do nothing or go look for her? It doesn't look like Mrs. Rune is gonna do anything about it."

Lateef thought about for a quiet moment then said, "I don't like the idea of just leaving without telling anyone though."

"Do you really think Mrs. Rune would just let us leave? I really don't think she would",Magnus explained.

"Yea I suppose your right there",Lateef replied then looked over at his other classmates. "Let's leave now while they are occupied."

"Aren't you worried we'll get caught?",Magnus joked. "After all this is a stupid idea."

"I know it is but it's this or wait and I really don't want to wait."

"Yea and something about this other dragon she's with, didn't someone say she was a with a purple dragon? And yet this purple dragon seems familiar and I am curious."

Lateef looked out into the forest in the distance, "From what I've heard she went toward that forest so we should start going that way."

"Right, lets get going before someone sees us",Magnus replied.

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Valley of Avalar_

Spyro gave out a sigh of relief when they finally reached the cheetah village. As Hunter walked through the front gate he told the guardsman that he had two dragons with him. The guardsman looked at the two dragons for a second then slowly nodded in approval. Hunter turned toward the two dragons then signaled them inside.

"Your welcome to stay here as long as you like",Hunter said as the two dragons entered the village. It seemed the village had prospered a little since Spyro's last visit for there were huts as homes for the cheetahs and tall guard towers at the two front corners of the village with a cheetah keeping watch over the valley. A small light colored dirt road circled around the whole village with homes on both sides of the road. Hunter led them to the left first and the trio walked by a few huts and cheetahs giving him a few of those looks Hunter was expecting to see. A few of them seemed surprised and even one of them told Spyro, "Welcome back." After they passed about six huts from the right Hunter led the two into his home as the two dragons entered Hunter walked into the kitchen on his right and placed the herbs he had into an overhead cupboard.

"Your welcome to eat what you can find",Hunter said as he left the kitchen. "But right now I'm real busy so if you would, could you stay here and out of trouble?"

Spyro couldn't help but show a grin, "Alright Hunter, is there any place you think we could take a nap?"

"Living room, there's a few places where I think you'll find a few comfy places to sleep",Hunter said as he opened the front door. "I'll be back in maybe about a half an hour or so."

"Ok Hunter, be seeing you",Spyro waved.

Hunter closed the door and Spyro quickly made his way into the kitchen and started opening cupboards. He found a loaf of bread and took it out and decided to heat it up to make the bread soft and taste better. He blew a small stream of fire near the bread, kind of like an oven but being careful not to set it ablaze. He didn't want Hunter to come home to a burned up kitchen. When he felt it was finished he let the bread cool for a few minutes before tearing off a piece and popping it into his mouth.

"It's pretty good but maybe fire wasn't the best thing for it",Spyro muffled.

"I could have told you that before you started",said Ember.

Spyro swallowed then replied, "Yea I'm soooooooo sure."

Ember just shook her head, "Yea whatever. So tell me about Flame."

"Well",Spyro began as he took another bite of bread. "How about I just continue with the story from where I left off? I'm gonna take you to meet Flame tomorrow hopefully but its getting a little late."

"Ok",Ember nodded.

Spyro swallowed the bread and tore another piece off and offered it to Ember. She thought about it for a second then decided to take it and eat it anyways. Had sort of a charbroiled taste to it.

"Where did I stop at?",Spyro asked himself. "Oh yea, of course Ignitus let may stay at his home. Flame was willing to share his room with me but there were no more beds in his room so I had to sleep on the couch for that night."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Barkwood Six Years Ago_

"I'll have a bed for you tomorrow Spyro but for now it would be more comfortable if you slept on the couch for now",Ignitus said as he led Spyro down the stairs and to the couch nearest to the stairs. Spyro flopped on the couch and Ignitus placed a cover over him.

"I'll wake you in the morning",Ignitus said as he walked away into that dark room Spyro saw on his way inside. It must have been the room Ignitus and Maia slept in.

Spyro laid on the couch unable to sleep for about an hour. He thought about his dad and what was going to happen. Spyro thought about his future. From the looks of things it seemed as if Spyro was . . . adopted into another family. All these thoughts kept him awake. Then suddenly Spyro felt a presence in the room. He thought it was just him for the first few seconds but he still felt the same exact feeling. That feeling made him look around and about. Then he noticed who it was, he was standing at the base of the stairs.

"Flame?",Spyro simply whispered to keep Ignitus and Maia asleep.

"Hey Spyro I was just thinking",Flame began in a whisper also. "Do you want to sleep on my bed for tonight?"

Spyro thought then answered, "Where will you sleep?"

Flame smiled, "I'll sleep where you are. We can switch places."

"If that's what you want",Spyro responded.

Flame nodded and Spyro got off the couch. Flame laid down on the couch and tucked himself in. As Spyro made his way upstairs he turned around toward Flame, "Hey Flame."

Flame looked up, "Yes?"

"Thanks."

Spyro made his way upstairs and into Flames room where he tucked himself into its soft plushy goodness. It had been three straight days since he was able to sleep on an actual bed so he was pretty happy and grateful.

But what Spyro didn't notice on his way upstairs was that Maia was watching the two switch places from bed. She looked at the snoring Ignitus with a smile then closed her eyes.

_The Next Morning_

"Wake up sleepyhead."

Flame slowly opened his eyes to see Maia sitting in front of him. She had a small smile on her face as Flame slowly sat up on the couch.

"Hi Mom",Flame greeted as he rubbed the cold out his eyes.

"Do you know where Spyro is at? I can't find him",Maia asked playfully already knowing the answer.

"Well Spyro is . . . in my room. We switched places last night so he could sleep on a bed."

"That was very nice of you Flame. Remind me to get you some candy later ok?"

Flame smiled, "Ok Mom. Do you want me to wake Spyro up and ask him if he wants to go to school with us?"

Maia couldn't help but widen her smile, "Ok ok, you can go ask him."

Flame quickly threw the covers off himself and quickly made his way upstairs at a fast walking pace. He slowly creaked the door open in his room to find Spyro was actually already up. He was sitting in front of the window across the room just watching the dragons go by.

"Hello Spyro",Flame greeted.

"Hello",Spyro replied.

"Me and my mom are about to get ready for school and I was wondering if you was going to come along or not."

Spyro thought about it for a few seconds as he stared through the window. Soon those seconds became minutes but Spyro didn't realize. He didn't realize until now that he was missing something, or someone. One of the main reasons he went to school. Because of his friend, Ember. He didn't realize what he had until it was gone. But who knows what is in store?

"Ok Flame, I'll come with you."

Flame felt like doing backflips but he simply said, "Ok, I'll go tell my mom."

Spyro watched Flame quickly leave the room and he turned his attention back through the road below as he thought about his friend Ember.

_Some Time Later_

"That was a good breakfast Maia",Spyro commented on his way to the school. "I liked the bacon the best."

"Thank you Spyro",Maia replied as the trio turned around a corner.

Spyro watched the school open up before him. It was almost a replica of his older school only smaller. Maia led the two to the front door and opened it for them. The two entered and Maia followed them in. The hallways were slimmer than Spyro's old school and it was less decorated but it still held that artistic touch to it from various things on the wall. Spyro thought that the teacher let loose some kids will paint on the wall for it had different paw prints on it and other sorts of stuff. It was going to be a meeting of the minds in a few minutes. Maia led the two into the third room on the left. Maia slowly turned the silver knob and creaked the door open to let Spyro and Flame in. From what Spyro saw after Maia turned on the lightswitch, there was no one other than Flame and Maia in the classroom.

"I'll be right back you two so don't get into trouble. If you want you can go ahead and start to play a game or something",Maia said as she left the room again.

Spyro watched Maia leave then asked a few seconds later, "Where is everyone?"

Flame looked surprised, "They are coming but we have to get here earlier than them so my mom can unlock the door. Didn't she tell you that she is the one watching us as we play? Like a teacher?"

Spyro shook his head, "No."

"Oh, maybe she was thinking that I was gonna tell you, sorry."

"It's ok, when is everyone coming?"

Flame sat for a second then answered, "Maybe in a few minutes. It's gonna be great to have another friend other than Cynder to play with."

xXxXxXxXxXx

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

Ember sat on the couch with a clear question in her mind that Spyro could clearly see.

"What is it?",Spyro asked as he sat on the adjacent couch next to the couch Ember was on.

"Who is Cynder? You never mentioned that name before."

"She was just a friend of Flame's. That's all I'll say for right now." Spyro made a deep and long yawn and laid down on the couch. "I'm just gonna take a quick nap. If you need me just wake me."

Ember was too deep in thought to hear him. She noticed a few minutes later a small snore coming from the couch which made her look. She saw Spyro asleep.

"Does that mean we're staying here for tonight?",Ember said to herself.

Then out of the blue she heard a bell and someone from the outside yell, "Grublins just outside the walls!"

Ember went to the door and creaked it open to take a look, "I guess that answers my question."

I hope you've been enjoying it so far. I know I'm not getting as many visitors to this story because there isn't much Ember likers out there. It shouldn't be Ember you don't like its the way the author changed her personality, well thats what I think. I working on chapter 8 as of right now so don't worry on me not updating.


	8. Friendly Foes

Late again. Why don't you try updating when you don't have access to internet at home anymore? Not easy especially if your landlines are dead and the verizon internet is $80 plus a month so no go on that and to top it off verizon says that their internet is not available where we live. Hughes net is also a no go because I live in the basic woods and satellite signals are hard to get.

Chapter 8

Friendly Foes

"Spyro! Wake up we're being attacked!",Ember exclaimed.

Spyro only made a moan and rolled over making Ember go shake him on his shoulder. Spyro stirred and looked up, "What is it?"

"I heard someone yell there were grublins outside the walls",Ember explained.

"Grublins?",Spyro repeated as he stood to his feet on top of the carpeted floor. He walked at a fast pace to door and opened it then made his way outside. He looked up at the nearest tower toward the right of him to see two cheetahs watching and pointing.

"What's the situation?",someone yelled.

"I see a few of them gathering near the front gate!",the cheetah from the tower replied back.

"Get some cheetahs out there and find out why they are here!"

Spyro watched the cheetahs make their way to the front gate. Spyro walked outside and looked around. Most of the cheetah's didn't pay him any attention but Spyro happened to catch one of the cheetah's attention. The cheetah stopped in front of Spyro in wait.

"Does the village need our assistance?",Spyro asked.

The cheetah looked around in thought then answered, "You may head to the front gate and wait there just in case we need some help."

The cheetah then ran toward the front gate with Spyro and Ember behind him. When they arrived at the front gate Spyro and Ember stopped just like the cheetah asked. The cheetah still ran toward the other cheetahs standing a few feet away from the grublins. But Spyro noticed something about the grublins. They wasn't armed with weapons.

"What are you doing in our valley?",someone asked.

The grublins just looked at one another while a few cheetahs made their way over to them. The grublins just waited there with a sign of fear in their eyes. A cold breeze suddenly blew toward the southwest making the grass and trees sway with the wind and making Ember shiver her shoulders. As the closest cheetah approached the grublins the grublins made a few steps backwards. The cheetah stopped a few feet away from them and looked back toward his superior. The slightly taller cheetah superior made his way over in front of the grublins and examined the grublins closely.

"They are just mere children",the superior cheetah softly murmered.

The cheetah beside him drew out his spear. "We should kill them where they stand."

The superior stood in his spot making Ember turn to Spyro, "He's not actually considering that is he?"

"I hope not",Spyro shuddered.

"What is going on here?"

Spyro turned around to see Hunter observing the scene in front of them. "Grublins."

"They don't look like they came looking for trouble",Hunter replied.

Spyro said nothing as he watched the cheetah superior. He waited with anticipation as much as the cheetah with the spear did. Then a small but barely noticeable nod came from the superior.

"Do it."

Ember grew wide-eyed, "No!"

The cheetah's all turned their attention to her except for the grublins who had the heads low and covered in fear.

"What makes you think that these grublins would kill us in the later years? The less of them the better",the cheetah said with the spear.

"You can't just kill them! They are just children!",Ember exclaimed.

"Who knows what they could turn into to? They could turn into killing machines?", the cheetah said as he waved his weapon around. "We would be doing ourselves a favor if we get rid of them right now."

"And you would turn yourself into a heartless murderer",Spyro said.

"Oh so the purple reptile speaks, it's not murder, it's giving ourselves a brighter future knowing there are three less grublins in the world.

Spyro slowly walked over to him with every eye set on him including the grublins. "They are just children and they are unarmed. If they wanted to do harm unto us they would at least have brought weapons."

The grublins watched the dragon walk in between the cheetah and themselves.

"I have nothing else to say other than they must be dealt with by my spear. So move aside dragon or I'll go through you",the cheetah threatened lowering the spear at Spyro.

Spyro sat down in front of the cheetah, "Do you really want to do that? Your making such a big deal out of this. It's three grublins not your makers."

The cheetah bared his teeth together as he tightened his grip on the spear out of aggravation. "We shall see you foolish dragon. Soon you shall see your makers."

The cheetah reared his spear back and thrusted forward towards Spyro's open chest. Ember immediately began running toward the cheetah but there wasn't enough time to stop him. But she noticed someone else had already did. The superior cheetah had his hand on the spear handle with a tight grip.

"You stop this nonsense",the superior said as he pulled the spear out of the other cheetah's grasp.

"Nonsense? Your the one who ordered me to do it."

"I figured you wouldn't do it but it turns I am mistaken. I was testing you. These grublins are no harm to us and you knew that. You were even willing to kill the purple dragon to kill three mere grublins. You are the one that is mad."

The superior then tossed the spear to the nearest cheetah. "Someone take this fool to prison."

The cheetah grew wide-eyed, "What!? What did I do?"

The superior turned toward him, "Attempt to kill three children and a dragon. And getting on my last nerve."

The cheetah was then grabbed on his left arm by a cheetah clearer larger and more muscular than him. He knew he would get a serious beatdown if he tried anything funny just by looking at the muscular cheetah's smirk. The cheetah was then pulled away from everyone back into the village where he was no longer seen.

"Thank you Salvador",Spyro said as he looked at the three grublins behind him.

"No thanks is needed Spyro",Salvador said he knelt at the grublins. The grublins still felt a little frightened but not as much. "You protected me, I protected you. However these grublins are my enemy, I couldn't have them killed. It's just . . . wrong."

Spyro nodded in approval then noticed Ember standing beside him, "Oh hey Ember."

"Please don't do that",she replied.

Spyro chuckled, "Do what? Risk my life for these grublins? There was no risk at all Ember."

"He was going to stab you! I can't believe you were just gonna let him do that."

"Spyro knew",Selvinus began.

Ember turned to the superior, "Knew?"

"Yes he knew I was going to save him. Especially since he saved me 7 months ago."

"A year actually",Spyro added.

"Has it really been that long?",Selvinus asked in thought.

"I think so. I still remember when I first visited your village about a"

"Stow the chit chat",Ember interrupted. "What are we supposed to do about these grublins?"

Selvinus looked at the grublins. They just stood there waiting in patience for the answer. "They sure are loyal though. They haven't moved. Usually they would run at the first sight of danger but these are different somehow."

"How so?",Ember asked as she looked at the grublins also.

Selvinus thought about it for a few seconds then answered, "It doesn't matter." Selvinus stood back up to his feet and turned to all the villagers. "You can all go back to your homes, I will take care of the grublins and ensure they safety as they leave our boundaries."

One by one the cheetah's obeyed and they headed back into the village, back to whatever business they had to attend to.

"Is there anything we can do to help?",Spyro asked.

"You can go back to your business",Selvinus said. "I don't want this to be a burden on you."

"It wouldn't be a burden",Spyro replied.

"I will just be leading them back into the forests from whence they came then I'll be coming back but if you want to come along then it wouldn't be a problem."

"You can go if you want Spyro but I'm going to Hunters home so I can get something to eat",Ember said.

"Alright Ember I guess I'll be seeing you later."

Ember walked back into the village past Hunter and made her way back into the hut. Hunter made way toward Spyro and Selvinus.

"That was good work Spyro. I couldn't have done any better myself."

"Quit with the bragging Hunter",Selvinus said. "If you want to come along you can. I already am being assisted by a dragon but I could always use the help."

"Alright Selvinus. I'll tag along."

Selvinus looked down at the three grublins to see them pointing down the river. He looked in that direction which seemed to go for a few miles.

"Seems they want to go that way. Maybe that was where they were headed before",Hunter implied.

"Then we shall go that way as well. You ready Spyro?",Selvinus asked.

Spyro nodded, "Yea lets get going."

Selvinus began leading Spyro and Hunter and the three grublins away from the village. The grublins seemed to want to head on first so the other three decided to follow them until they were safely in the forest down the river. Then the grublins seemed to stop in front of the swaying trees by the wind and looked at the dragon and two cheetahs. For a minute or two Hunter didn't know what they were waiting for but then realized.

"They want to go on alone now."

The superior cheetah nodded in agreement, "I agree also." Then the cheetah turned to the grublins. "Are you sure you can go on without us?"

The grublins nodded yes then one by one the grublins made their way into the forest. All except one who was still looking at Spyro. Spyro looked back at the grublins in the eyes and could see a sense of gratitude in them. The grublin bowed his head then slowly made his way in his brothers footsteps.


	9. Spyro Meets Cynder

Authors Note: I apologize for abandoning this story like an idiot. No excuses for what I did. Anywho, most of you have probably forgotten on what was happening here.

If so, then Spyro and Ember were in the Valley of Avalar, in Hunter's home in the cheetah village, when someone spots grublins. Although this grublins meant no harm, and Spyro knew it. Another cheetah suggested that the grublins should be disposed of, so he threatened to kill Spyro to do it. Instead, he found himself getting thrown in jail, and the grublins were thankful for Spyro's help. The grublins then, roam off into the nearby forests, which is where this chapter takes over.

I know about the mistakes I made in the past chapters *shivers*. So many errors, but still, I've gotten better since then so don't expect to be sitting in one spot, wondering what that word means. Anyways, enjoy the next chapter, and apologies for the long authors note . . . again.

Chapter 9

Spyro Meets Cynder

Spyro and Ember was back in Hunter's house, this time, Hunter was with them. Hunter was in the kitchen for a few minutes, then walked into his small living room with a loaf of bread.

Hunter's living room contained two comfy, tan couches, each big enough for Spyro and Ember to sleep on. Of course, there was an unlit fireplace in front of the two couches, and underneath the couches was a dull, plain looking pale carpet. To the right was the kitchen. It was small too, but it had many cabinets, and a stove. It also had a faucet and sink with a window over it. To the left was Hunter's bedroom with his bathroom inside it. It contained a medium sized bed with thick looking blankets, a dresser beside the bed, a window to the side, and a cabinet near the corner where the window was. One painting decorated Hunter's room. It was a painting of the Valley of Avalar. In the corner of the painting, you could see the cheetah village.

"So Spyro, when are you going to continue this story of your?" Hunter took a bite into the bread he was holding as he sat down on the nearest couch. Spyro and Ember sat on the other couch.

"My story?" Spyro questioned himself and thought back. "Where was I?"

"You were in school, with Flame," Ember reminded.

Spyro smiled, "Ah, yes. Well, me and Flame waited in the classroom by ourselves for the other students to show up. They did after a few minutes."

_Barkwood Six Years Ago_

Spyro dug through a toybox, bigger than himself, curious of what was inside. He found many familiar things, while he dug. Dragon figurines, a ball, blocks with letters on them, even a paddle ball.

Spyro took out the paddle ball. The object was simple, a paddle with a piece of stretchy string attached to it with a small rubber red ball attached to the end of the string. He remembered Ember showing this to him.

Spyro tried to bounce it off the paddle, the ball hit the paddle, the string stretched and brought the ball back. Then Spyro unexpectedly bounced the ball back again. Spyro laughed, but the ball missed the paddle the third time.

"I can't do those either," Flame smiled.

Spyro soon found himself, occupied in the paddle ball. He spent time with it, enough time for every one in the 4k class to arrive. When the time came, Spyro put the paddle ball down, and took his seat, as did the others. Spyro sat near the back of all the desks. There were only eight desks, two in the front, three in the middle, and three in the back.

Maia, the teacher, stood up from her desk and began, "Okay class, you all may have noticed that we have a new dragon in the class. Spyro, can you stand up for just a minute?"

Spyro shyly smiled as he stood up, seven other toddlers looking at him in the process. The class wasn't as big as Spyro thought it would, but he didn't mind. He actually liked it better that way.

"This is Spyro everyone. He'll be coming to school here for a little while. Alright, you may be seated Spyro."

Spyro silently obeyed. He didn't notice that Flame sat beside him. A few minutes later, he realized that and grinned. Spyro looked to his left, to notice a black dragon. The black dragon had six white horns, a reddish underbelly, and some markings on her forehead. Her tail ended in a white, yet dull looking sword.

Spyro looked at the black dragon for a moment, and the black dragon took notice of it. She looked over at Spyro for a moment, then smiled at him.

The day went on. Maia read a story to the whole class, a story about a dragon, getting lost in the forest. But he never gave up, the dragon knew that if he did, that would have been the end. Because this dragon never gave up, he found his way back home. The dragon's parents was happy to see their son again, so they threw a party for him.

Spyro knew the main point of the story. Giving up was the first step toward failure.

After Maia finished her story, she said, "Okay class, today's lesson is over."

"So does that mean we can go play now?" A white dragon in the front asked.

Maia smiled, "Yes, all of you can go play now. Have fun!"

Spyro's classmates all jumped out of their desks, and ran over to the nearest toybox. Spyro found himself smiling, still sitting in his desk. This school wasn't that much different than his old school. Which made Spyro happy.

"Come on Spyro," Flame tapped Spyro on the shoulder. "Didn't you hear my mom? We can go play now!"

Spyro looked over at his classmates, seeing them playing, making a mess within seconds. Spyro looked up at Flame, "Okay," he nodded.

Spyro stood out of his desk and walked over to a toybox his classmates hadn't gotten to yet. It was the same toybox he was at before. But his paddleball that he left on the floor was missing.

Spyro looked around for it, and seen a black dragon playing with it. It was the same black dragon who sat beside him. Instead of asking for it, Spyro watched for a moment.

The black dragon started bouncing the ball off the paddle, but only successfully bounced it back four consecutive times before the ball missed the paddle.

"You did better that time," Flame said. Spyro looked over at him and realized he was talking to the black dragon.

"Thank you," the black dragon replied. Her voice sounded soft and innocent. She put the paddleball down and walked over to Flame.

"Oh yeah, Spyro, this is Cynder. My friend that I told you about."

Cynder looked at the purple dragon all over, "It's good to meet you Spyro."

Spyro was silent for a moment. There was something about Cynder that made him nervous, he just couldn't figure it out. Then he finally replied. "You like that paddleball?"

Cynder nodded, "Sure, it's fun, but hard."

"Don't worry, I can't do it that good yet either."

Cynder only smiled in return. She didn't know how far that this friendship would take them, but she was willing to see where it would.

_Back To Spyro And Ember_

Ember shifted positions on the couch, "So that's how you met Cynder?"

"Yeah, she's a good friend, you should meet her sometime."

"I would like that," Ember replied.

Hunter laid back on the other couch, satisfied of what he ate. Spyro glanced over at him, then figured he was going to take a nap. But Hunter shifted, and stood to his feet.

"The sun should be getting ready to set in about two hours or so. If you need somewhere to stay, you two are welcome to stay here until morning."

Spyro looked over at Ember, "I don't know, I have friends that may be waiting for me. If I stay here, they may be wondering where I am."

"Ah, I see what you mean," Hunter said. "I'll be outside, in the village, if you need me."

"Alright Hunter," Spyro watched Hunter leave his hut and close the door behind him.

_Meanwhile_

Magnus and Lateef wandered around in a large meadow, wondering where Ember had ran off to. Lateef said that he saw Ember head towards the forest, but it was most likely that she was already back out of it. So the two of them walked by the forest, and continued on.

As the meadow ended, sand took up its place on the ground. They were still in an open area with an occasional tree, here and there. Another small patch of woods laid ahead of them. Then Magnus finally found a clue. Pawprints on the ground.

"Don't you think we should head back Magnus?" Lateef suggested, looking behind him, nervously. "We've been gone for an hour."

"Look, I just found some pawprints here on the ground," Magnus indicated.

Lateef walked to Magnus's side and looked at the same thing, "It seems your right." Lateef set his paw right beside the print to compare sizes. "It's a little smaller than mine, could be Ember's."

"Right, so we should follow them. They could lead us to Ember."

"You act as if she is in trouble," Lateef replied, looking ahead of himself.

"No, I'm just curious of where she and that other dragon went."

"You mean the purple dragon?" Lateef reminded.

"Whatever, it was your idea to come looking for her anyways, remember?"

Lateef shook his head, "Yes, I remember and I really don't care. I didn't make you come with me."

"Yes, I know that, I never skipped school before though," Magnus admitted as he began following the tracks. They looked as if they headed straight for the woods ahead of him.

Lateef began to follow, "There's a first for everything, I'm more worried about us getting lost."

Magnus looked over at Lateef, "So it's now, that you worry about us getting lost?"

"Just saying," Lateef began. "Anyways, I heard about some Valley in this direction. I never actually been to it though. They say it is a beautiful place to go."

"Stop getting girly on me Lateef," Magnus chuckled. "Besides, I'm going for my own reason. Like I said before, this purple dragon seems familiar to me."

Sorry but I was only able to update this one time this week. I'm working on the next chapter right now though.


	10. Reuinited

Chapter 10

Reunited

Ember soon found Spyro sleeping on the couch again. She rolled her eyes at him and sat down on the other couch in thought. She thought of what her friend Lateef, was doing without her at school. She hoped he wasn't worried about her for she never told him that she was leaving.

Soon, Ember found herself dozing off from boredom.

_Meanwhile_

Lateef and Magnus made their way into the woods where Ember and Spyro was attacked. The walk seemed quiet and boring. There was no wildlife, no chirping of birds, nothing. Lateef didn't notice it at first, until he looked up into the tree limbs above.

"Uh, Magnus."

"What is it?" Magnus asked.

Lateef only pointed upwards making Magnus look. When he did, he saw webs clung in the treelimbs. That wasn't all, it looked as if the webs was holding together a lot of sticks and limbs together which formed into a sphere. At the side of this scructure was a hole big enough for Magnus to fit into.

"Is that?" Magnus began in a low voice but never finished..

"We should get out of here," Lateef suggested. "I've got a bad feeling about this place."

Magnus nodded in agreement. Lateef and Magnus quickly traveled, trying to be as quiet as they could along the way. Lateef had a good idea of what was in this forest and why is was so dead of wildlife. Truth was, Lateef was frightened but was good at hiding it.

A few minutes later, Lateef heard a noise behind him. It sounded like footsteps, many footsteps. This made Lateef and Magnus travel even faster, almost into a run. Neither of them wanted to look back.

Another few minutes passed. It seemed, for the time being, the sound of footsteps in the woods behind them stopped. But it was for a brief moment. The footsteps began again, this time it seemed like there was more.

The two dragons dared not to look back. They read each others minds and made a break for it. Lateef heard a _hiss_ behind him. When he looked back, he nearly yelped. Four spiders, nearly the size of Lateef, were behind them.

The spiders waited for their prey to get a good ways away before they began their hunt, almost as if they enjoyed this type of sport.

Lateef took another peek. The spiders were spread out, one on his left side, one on his right side, and the other two in the middle.

"Magnus," Lateef panted in a strange, calm sounding manner.

"What!" Magnus seemed panicky and frightened. Now wasn't the time for your casual talk but Magnus went with it.

"I'm sorry. We shouldn't have come this far out into the woods."

"Yeah, whatever Lateef! Focus on running!"

Lateef looked over at Magnus with only an uncanny grin. Magnus was too busy running to take notice of it. Running from death itself.

The leaves crackled under the two dragons as they gracefully ran in unison beside each other. The spiders behind them sounded as if they were closer than before, but neither dragon dared to look at how close that actually was.

Then Lateef saw an opening in the woods ahead. He took a glance at Magnus and knew he was looking at the same thing.

With a new burst of energy, the two dragons sprinted toward the end. Lateef heard the noise of hissing behind him slowly fade as ran, thinking he was about to escape. Only twenty yards remained. Magnus noticed something odd up ahead. The trees were rattling. He was about to inform Lateef, but was cut off as something big fell from the same trees that were rattling. Lateef and Magnus slid to a stop and looked at the object, only it wasn't an object.

A spider, over twice as big as the ones that were chasing them, stood in front of them. It's eight red eyes staring straight at the frightened dragons.

"Lateef, that thing is looking at us!" Magnus warned as he took a few steps back in the process. Lateef held his ground, claws dug into the ground.

"Yeah," Lateef stage-whispered. "Let's get some."

The spider growled and hissed, its fangs seemed to vibrate in the process.

Magnus turned his head, seeing that the other three spiders caught up to them. Magnus frowned, seeing nowhere to go. He looked up in frustration, considering about flying out. But there was just too many tree branches blocking their way, as if something wanted to keep them there.

"Lateef, we can't fight all of them," Magnus calmly said, looking back down at the light blue scaled dragon.

But a spider behind him didn't give them any more time to talk. A spider jumped toward Magnus, legs spread out like a net. Magnus looked behind himself and tried to dive out of harms way, but the spider was just too quick for him. The spider fell on top of Magnus, making him collapse to the ground. The spider hissed in Magnus's face, ready for a meal. Magnus managed to squirm his paw from the maze of the spider's legs to freedom and raked the spider's eyes with his claws. The spider squealed in pain as it stumbled backwards, freeing Magnus. He quickly rose to his feet and looked over at Lateef to see he was in his own battle against another little spider. Magnus looked back at the spider he injured, and pounced with a roar.

Magnus managed to evade with a dive to the side this time, making the spider completely miss his target. The spider, was in fact, so far off from Magnus that Magnus didn't even have to try to evade. He guessed the spider's injury to the eyes must have been affecting it.

Lateef on the other hand had his paws full. The spider he was battling shot a silky web at him. Lateef managed to burn the webs with his flame breath before the web got to him. Immediately after the flame dispersed, the spider was in the air after Lateef. Lateef blew another short flame in front of him for protection and was rewarded with the squealing of a spider. The spider was on fire for a short moment before collapsing to the ground, decorated with its own black, burned skin.

"Lateef!"

Lateef snapped his view to Magnus to see him trapped in a thick web on the ground. He struggled to no use as his attacker approached, the spider that was bigger than the other three.

The spider trampled over to Magnus with a squealing roar as Magnus attempted to cut himself loose with his claws. But he wasn't fast enough.

The spider was looked over Magnus and spat out a clear liquid from its mouth. The liquid fell on top of Magnus like a massive raindrop. It felt like it was sticky, but it also burned something fierce.

Magnus yelled in pain as the liquid burned him. He was nearly covered in it. He managed to look over to see Lateef, growling and snarling at the spider, then everything went dark.

The spider looked over beside itself to see the light blue scaled dragon facing him. The spider growled itself and lunged one of its front legs at Lateef. Lateef just barely evaded the sudden attack and countered with a flame from his mouth. The flames covered the spiders face, burning it. The spider squealed but was still alive, but Lateef didn't stop. The flames continued. Each passing second, the spider became weaker and weaker, until finally, nearly ten seconds later, the spider collapsed.

Lateef stopped his flames and deeply inhaled while watching the spider squirm on the ground. Then finally, it stopped moving completely.

When Lateef caught his breath, he ran over to Magnus, still trapped in the web.

"Magnus! I'm here buddy!"

Lateef saw that Magnus wasn't moving as he cut him loose of the sticky web. He considered burning it, but he could have burned Magnus in the process.

Lateef looked upon Magnus first inspected the liquid on Magnus.

"Crap Magnus, now isn't the time to get yourself poisoned!"

Lateef looked through the forest up ahead to see the opening. He looked back down at the unconscious Magnus, and left. What Lateef failed to notice, was that there were four spiders, and he and Magnus only managed to kill two.

_Meanwhile_

Spyro yawned, too lazy to get up. He found himself staring at the fireplace in front of him, not knowing what he could do in the village. He thought about taking a walk, but he didn't want to leave the napping Ember all by herself, in a place she didn't really know that well.

A few minutes later, he decided to force himself up and he quietly made his way to the kitchen. He looked on the shelf to his right as he entered, and found half of a loaf of bread sitting on it. Spyro smiled, nabbed it, turned around and made his way back to his couch where he sat down in happiness.

He took a bite of the bread. It was a tiny bit stale, but he didn't mind at the moment. Each bite he took, the more the crumbs fell onto the the couch. Spyro either didn't notice, or didn't seem to care.

Making short work of the bread, Spyro made his way to the window beside the front door and peered through it. Cheetahs walked the dirt road in front of him, leaving behind a small dust cloud behind them. This told Spyro that the village hadn't had much rain recently.

Spyro lazily turned around and walked back over to the couch. He looked at Ember, sound asleep, and found himself staring in thought. He remembered when he and Ember were in school together. It was uneasy at first, but he soon found himself enjoying it. He remembered how he and Ember used to play together, laugh together, and talked with each other.

Spyro's thoughts were obliterated though, as the front door swung open. Spyro looked and spotted Hunter.

"There sure are a lot of visits to the village today," Hunter remarked.

Spyro noticed the conversation awoke Ember. She stirred as Spyro replied, "What do you mean by that? Don't tell me there is someone else here?"

Hunter nodded emotionlessly, "I think you and Ember would want to see for yourselves, this one is a dragon."

"Dragon?" Ember interrupted. The word, dragon, woke her up fast. "What does he look like?"

Hunter answered a second later, "Your size, light blue scales, and was looking exhausted."

"That's Lateef!" Ember indicated, quickly getting up to her feet. She seemed surprised that he was here.

"You know him no doubt then. Then both of you should come with me. He was at the front gates asking for help." Hunter turned around and led to two dragons outside, leaving his door open.

"Wonder what Lateef is doing here," Ember asked herself in a low tone.

"Who is Lateef?" Spyro asked, but it seemed as if Ember didn't hear the question for she never replied.

The group began their silence as they headed toward the front gate, which didn't take them but a few seconds short of a minute. A group of cheetahs were grouped at the front gate, looking at the visitor as if they never had one before. This actually annoyed Ember a little bit. Hunter led the two dragons through the small crowd of cheetahs, until Ember saw Lateef, a few feet away from her with another cheetah beside him. Lateef was sitting down on the grass and had to double-take when he saw Ember.

"Ember? I found you!" Lateef happily exclaimed. But his smile was quickly replaced by a frown. "Quick! You have to help me save Magnus!"

"Magnus?" Ember repeated, making her way closer to him. Spyro stayed behind to watch the scene with the other cheetahs. "What happened to Magnus?"

"We were attacked by these," Lateef made the motion in front of him. "Giant spiders."

"Don't tell me you went through the woods over there?" Ember pointed.

Lateef poorly nodded, "Unfortunately."

Ember shook her head then looked behind her, "Spyro, can you help us?"

"Spyro?" Lateef quietly said to himself.

Spyro showed himself to Lateef to see Lateef looking at him in an odd way. Spyro shook the thoughts away and said, "Can you lead us to your friend?"

"Yeah yeah," Lateef frantically responded. Lateef began his quick run toward the woods beside the river. "Come on!"

Ember and Spyro quickly followed.


	11. Learning the Arts

Chapter 11

Spyro and Ember quickly followed Lateef straight into the woods without looking back. Hunter was about to protest, but saw that it would do no good for the dragons were already gone. He scratched the back of his head, hoping nothing had happened to their friend.

The leaves crackled as the three dragons ran in the woods. When Lateef began to slow down, Spyro and Ember did the same. Then Lateef began looking around.

"He should be here! Magnus!" Lateef called out.

Spyro looked around. There was indeed some sort of struggle in the particular area. The leaves on the ground told him that because they were scattered everywhere, there were spots where they weren't any leaves at all and in other places the leaves were broken up into pieces from being stepped on.

"Magnus!" Ember yelled.

Still no answer.

Then Spyro spotted a body of a giant spider. It looked bigger than usual. Then he spotted another spider body, smaller than the big one.

"How many spiders were there?" Spyro asked, still looking around.

Lateef was in thought for a short second before saying, "I think there was two . . . no wait there was four."

Spyro turned his attention to Lateef, "Well then. Where's the other two spiders? I only see two bodies."

Lateef heavily frowned, "Oh no. I only got one spider and Lateef only got one too. That means . . ."

"That there was still two of them left alive," Spyro finished.

"I remember injuring one of them but there was another who didn't even fight. I feel like slapping myself."

"Don't worry about it," Ember calmly replied. "It will be all right. What happened to Magnus?"

"He was poisoned. He needs help as soon as possible. Magnus!"

"He's fine," a voice emanated.

Spyro turned to look where the voice came from. The voice sounded familiar.

"Who said that?" Ember said out loud.

Spyro smiled when he heard another voice. "Don't worry, we took care of it."

"Where are you two at?" Spyro said, his voice sounded merrier than before.

Then two dragons emerged from beyond the trees. A red dragon and a black dragon. Spyro smiled at the sight of the two of them.

"Flame! Cynder!" Spyro exclaimed.

"You must have just missed us earlier," Flame said, making his way to Spyro. "We already took Magnus to the cheetah village."

"You don't have to worry," Cynder added. "They are already treating his wounds."

"Alright then," Spyro sighed in relief. "Let's get going."

Spyro began walking back to the village, followed by all of the others. When they exited the woods, the headed straight for the village in the same walking pace. Then Spyro asked, "Hey, where's Sparx?"

"He's, somewhere," Flame responded sounding unsure.

Spyro only stayed quiet in response.

There was still a few cheetahs at the front gate but not as much as before. It was easy getting by them. However Spyro saw a few of them taking glances at Flame and Cynder then return to their conversations or work. Then Spyro saw Hunter in front of his hut. He made his way over to him with everyone still behind him.

"Hunter, do you know where Magnus is being held?" Spyro asked, giving Hunter his attention.

"Magnus, the silver dragon?"

Spyro nodded in response.

"Inside my hut. I had the herbs to cure his poison, but I don't think they are done yet so please stay out of my hut until they say its alright."

"Alright Hunter, thanks. We'll just wait here until we can see him."

Hunter made a slight chuckle then turned his attention to Flame and Ember who sat at the back of the five dragon pack. "Ah, Flame and Cynder. It's been a while since I last saw you two here."

"Indeed it has," Flame replied. Then he nudged Cynder. "How long has it been."

Cynder shrugged, "I'm not sure. I remember being here with Spyro though."

Lateef looked the village from his spot then looked at Spyro. "I'm confused. Who are you exactly? You seem so familiar."

Spyro looked over at Lateef. "You look a little familiar to me. Lateef is it? It feels like I heard that name before but I can't place it."

"You look a little familiar too," Lateef remarked. "You a friend of Ember?"

Spyro nodded, "We met six years ago in a preschool. However, something happened and I had to leave. I had just returned to see what Ember's been up to." Then he pointed at Flame. "This is Flame. He was the son of the dragon that helped me out." He pointed at Cynder afterwards. "She's Cynder. Flame was her only friend when I met her. Both, Flame and Cynder, had helped me during my travels to find the cure for my fathers illness."

"Spyro?" Lateef said in recognizance. "I knew I recognized you from somewhere! I was in preschool with you! I remember now!"

"Hmm, I do remember seeing a blue dragon in that school. That must have been you. Well then, well met Lateef."

Ember butted in with persistency in her voice, "Well then now that you two have caught up then why don't you continue your story while we wait Spyro?"

Lateef cocked an eye, "Story?"

Ember turned toward him, "Yeah. Spyro's been telling me his story of why he was gone for six years."

"Sounds like a way to pass the time so I'm listening," Lateef said in a laid back kind of way. He was still worried about his friend, Magnus, but there was nothing he could do at the moment.

Everyone sat down to listen to the story. Everyone but Spyro noticed that Hunter was also listening in from his spot, interested of what he had to say.

"Alright. I continued my life through my new school, with my new friends, with a new life that I didn't even recognized. Before I knew it, a year had already passed in Barkwood. I was really settled in Ignitus's home, not even worried about the life ahead of me."

_Barkwood Five Years Ago_

Spyro was sound asleep in his bed with Flame under him. The two of them shared a room and Flames bed was turned into a bunk bed, two beds on top of one another. There were a few things missing from Flames room than there was a year ago. Like his basketball goal that he had. Only an empty space took its place now. He was also missing a few toys from his toybox that he lost over time. He didn't really seem to mind, or even care for that matter. Everything else was still sitting in the same place with a bit less luster than a year ago.

Then Spyro woke up. It wasn't on his own, it was by someone else. That someone was Ignitus.

"Spyro, wake up," Ignitus quietly nudged.

Spyro twitched, stirred, then looked up at Ignitus with his half-asleep look.

Spyro, Flame, and Cynder were currently in 5K. They all graduated last year with no problems at all. They never got into any sort of trouble during that year either. All in all, it was a fun year for all of them. But the best part of that year was when Spyro first arrived and he first met Cynder. All the other boys of the class thought their friendship was "icky". But they didn't know what they were missing out on.

Today was the weekend so Spyro was currently free of school.

"What is it Ignitus?" Spyro yawned, rubbing his eyes.

Ignitus grinned for a short moment then said, "I've got a surprise for you. I'm going to teach you how to use fire."

Spyro was fast awake then, "Wow wee! Fire! But my dad already taught me some things about fire."

Ignitus made a happy short chuckle then continued, "Yes, I know he has, but he hasn't taught you everything you need to know. And he also said that you haven't even been able to use any flames yet. Do you want me to help you?"

Spyro childishly nodded, "Uh-huh!"

"Then come with me and I will teach you."

Spyro hopped out of bed then looked up at Flame. "What about Flame? Are you going to teach him too?"

"Of course," Ignitus replied. "But for right now, I would prefer that I could teach you without any . . . distractions."

"You mean that me and Flame would play around too much to learn anything," Spyro replied in a low tone.

"Yes, it seems I can't get anything by you these days."

Spyro grinned at the compliment.

As the day went on, Spyro soon found himself in a large empty place in the forest. He really didn't know where he was. He was standing on a patch of dirt that spread through the meadow. This was so he could have easy footing during his training meaning that the meadow was a perfect place to train.

Ignitus began teaching him the basics of how to let loose some flames. Ignitus demonstrated and Spyro tried to follow suit, but to no avail. Ignitus told him to keep on trying and he would eventually be able to let the flames inside him out.

The day came and went. Spyro felt that his first day of training didn't hardly do much of anything other than pass a perfectly good day away. He still had some time to play with his friend Flame, but Spyro often wondered if he was his brother now. Had Ignitus adopted him? It's been well over a year since he last seen his real father. He still had to find that cure before it was too late, but he was told to trust Ignitus. So he was doing that, but he wanted to look for the cure for his real fathers sickness.

The next few days came and went. After Spyro got out of school, Ignitus would train him. But he still couldn't breathe his own flames yet. When Spyro had the free time, he and Flame would play with their toys, eat their dinner, and they would sometimes find themselves napping even though they didn't intend on it.

Finally, after a few more days, Spyro was able to let out a puff of fire. It surprised him, but made him happy. Even Ignitus was surprised. He didn't expect Spyro to do something like that for another few weeks. Before Ignitus knew it, Spyro was easily breathing a controlled fire. Which led him to the second step of his training, firing fireballs.

This took a few more days before Spyro got the hang of it. Ignitus often found himself defending against Spyro's wildly thrown fireballs.

It took a week to be able to control the fireball technique, which was a bit longer than Ignitus had anticipated. Soon, Ignitus found Spyro helping out in the house with his fire by lighting the fireplace for all of them.

Then it was Flames turn to learn the element of fire. But this took a month of practicing, nearly twice as long as Spyro. But he did learn everything Spyro had learned from the same mentor, which gave them the same advice.

"Don't burn the house down and if you do, don't be there when I go looking for you."

In school, Spyro and Flame showed off their skills to their classmates, during recess of course. They knew better than to use their flame indoors. Everyone seemed astonished on how they could breathe fire, and that was all they talked about the rest of the day.

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

"I actually remember all that," Flame said. "Fun times those were."

"I agree," Cynder added, shifting positions. "Those were the fun days."

Then Hunter tapped Spyro on the shoulder. It made Spyro jump a little bit for he forgot that Hunter was behind him the whole time. "They said it was alright to go see your friend now. They already applied the herbs so he's cured and is going to be alright."

Spyro looked pass Hunter to see a few more cheetahs sitting down on the ground. Then he realized that they were listening on his story too. Spyro didn't know it, but he had an audience while he told his story.


	12. In the Woods

Chapter 12

Magnus was asleep on the couch in Hunter's home as if nothing had ever happened to him. Spyro, Ember, and Lateef were the only ones watching him and Flame and Cynder were outside with Hunter.

"You think he'll be alright?" Lateef asked as if it were his fault he was in this position.

"Of course he will," Spyro replied. "Hunter helped us a few times in our years. And when I say our I mean me, Cynder, and Flame."

Lateef looked over at Spyro and eyed him over. "Spyro, so you went to school with Ember?"

Spyro closed his eyes, remembering the time he did. "Yeah, but it was six years ago. Something came up and I had to leave." He looked back at Lateef. "You see, my mom died because she caught some sort of illness. A very slow working illness. It destroys the part of your body that fights against diseases and sickness making you more vulnerable to get sick. But it takes a long time for it to completely destroy that part of your body. When my mom died, my dad told me that he too had caught this disease. He told me there was only one cure for it, some type of sap from a rare mushroom. So I left the village to look for this mushroom."

"You left when you were that young?" Lateef asked in disbelief.

"Yes, I did. But my father had sent someone to help me. We met in the forest where he led me to the closest place where that mushroom could be. But at the time I didn't even know how to defend myself. So it took me a year until I could finally use fire."

"A year? Wow, so you must have had some sort of new life."

"It was actually kind of frightening at first. But the one who helped me, Ignitus, had a son. We quickly became friends and I began going back to school in Barkwood. That's where I began my second life. I would sometimes think back to my first life and ask Ignitus if we could go and look for the cure. But he said that I wasn't ready. He kept on saying that until three years ago. After I learned fire, I continued on with my life the best I could. I had some fun times."

_Three years ago_

_Barkwood_

Spyro was by himself in the forest with no one around for a little ways. He just had to find it, it was the only reason he got sent to Barkwood in the first place. He was needed and Spyro couldn't let his main objective go through his paws. After all, he didn't know what he would do if both of his parents were gone. Being away from his father for three years already was life changing and Spyro missed him. He wanted to go back to his father but he didn't really know the way.

He remembered when he woke up that morning, finding his mother in need of medical help. But it was far too late, nothing could have saved her. His father told him her heart just stopped but he was too young to understand something that big. That was the truth, but it wasn't the whole truth. The reason her heart stopped was because of the PCP disease.

It felt like hours that Spyro was out there in the forest. Searching under rocks and past trees. He found mushrooms, but they were just ordinary. The ones he was looking for were red with a blueish stem and they were very rare. They were also said to grow around swampy areas the most but he didn't know where a swamp was.

Then Spyro heard the sound of a large branch cracking. He froze in his spot and looked around. Trees, leaves, nothing looked suspicious. But Spyro double-taked and gasped. A black bear was trying to sneak up behind him but was caught. Spyro turned around and ran. Bears were vicious and were known to tear nearly anything apart for food. It looked as if dragon was on his menu and Spyro was it. Spyro ran, dodging trees and the occasional bush, trying to flee so he could continue his search. But he couldn't lose him, instead the black bear was gaining on him. He didn't want to fly out of the forest right now, but it looked as if he had no choice.

"Hey! You want a piece of me you overgrown rug! Then come on!"

Spyro looked behind him without stopping and saw Flame facing off against the bear. "Flame? Are you crazy?" Spyro slid to a stop and ran back.

"Like a fox! Come on Spyro, we can take him!"

Flame was right, both of them were fully capable of using flames and were trained for this kind of stuff. Why was Spyro running in the first place? Now was a good time to test his abilities and if things began to look bleak, he could just fly out of there. Why was he worried?

Spyro stopped right beside Flame and the bear roared and charged. Spyro and Flame split and one took position to the right, the other to the left. The bear looked to his right at Spyro, and went after him. Spyro's heart was pounding and his body jumped to the side to evade the hundreds of pounds that tried to trample him. As the bear went by, Spyro swiped it in the side with his claws making the bear feel pain on his left side. Flame ran back to Spyro's side as the bear turned back around, and the bear roared with anger. Or it could have been pain. Either way, he wasn't happy and the bear realized that he couldn't do it. He couldn't win. So he ran back into the woods from whence he came.

"C'mon Spyro let's go after it!" Flame suggested in an excited tone. It was like he was enjoying it.

"Naw, it's alright Flame." Spyro replied as the bear disappeared from his sight. "That bear will think twice before attacking a dragon again."

Flame looked eager to run after it but restrained himself with a sigh. "Oh alright." He turned and looked around. "What are you doing out here anyways?"

"I'm looking for something. How did you find me?"

Flame grinned, "I came looking for you. I saw you head into the forest but I laid back for a little while. When you never came back out, I came to look for you. Then I heard noises and found you being chased by that bear."

Spyro looked into the forest, "How far are we from Barkwood?"

Flame shrugged, "Not that far, maybe five minutes away if we fly if not less."

"Oh really. I should probably be heading back now should I?"

"Probably, Ignitus might be worried about us so we should probably head back."

"Then let's go!"

Flame nodded as Spyro lifted off through the tree limbs. His wings scrubbed a few tree limbs but it wasn't like he couldn't handle it. Flame followed his example. The two of them flew towards the village that could be seen at the horizon. It was a little hard to spot at first but as they drew closer to it, it was easier to make out. No one could miss it from this point.

"And you said that we should go after the bear. Then you said that we should go back," Spyro said, making conversation with his friend.

"Whatever," Flame simply replied.

"So how is Cynder doing?" Spyro smirked.

Flame looked over at Spyro, saw his smirk, and looked back forwards. "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"Well, you do talk to her a lot. And you always have a good time when she is around. I was just wondering on how she was doing since how I haven't seen her in a few days."

Flame growled then answered, "Your just jealous."

Spyro chuckled then went on, "I'm not jealous Flame. I'm happy for you."

A few more seconds passed then Flame began, his voice sounded more serious. "Hey Spyro."

"What is it?" Spyro asked, still smiling at the last part of the conversation.

"Do you know what puberty is? Ignitus told me that I was going through it and I have no idea what it is."

Spyro frowned, "I don't know what you mean."

Flame continued, "Well, Ignitus said it had something to do with Cynder. He didn't tell me much about it."

"Well, I'm sure you'll find out more about it later on."

"I hope so," Flame obliviously said. "It sounds kind of interesting."

A few minutes passed then the two landed in the village, in front of their home. The few dragons on the street, watched them as they landed, then returned to their business.

After they landed, Flame said, "I'm going to go see what Cynder is up to."

"Can I come with you? I got nothing to do right now."

Flame looked Spyro over then replied, "Of course you can."

Then the front door of their home opened. Spyro and Flame looked and saw Ignitus. "Where have you two been?"

Spyro and Flame looked at each other then Flame answered, "Uh . . . nowhere in particular."

Ignitus looked at them as if he could tell they weren't telling the truth. He eased down to their level and repeated, "Where have you two been? No lies."

This time Spyro answered. "We went to go look for that mushroom Ignitus. We're sorry."

Ignitus looked him in the eye and smiled, "Well that is okay. But you won't find the mushroom in these forests. The mushroom we seek is elsewhere. I appreciate you looking though. Now run along, and if you go mushroom hunting again, at least tell me."

"Okay Ignitus," Flame responded. "We will."

Ignitus eyed his two sons and went back into his home. Flame looked at Spyro, "Well that was easy. I was expecting us to get an earful out of that one."

"Well, we didn't really tell him the whole story. I didn't tell him about us being attacked by that bear."

Flame quickly put a paw over Spyro's muzzle, "Hey shhh. Not so loud. We got out of this one easy. And we told the truth, most of it anyways. It's not like we lied."

Spyro sighed, "Well, that's true. So when are we going to see Cynder?"

"Right now," Flame replied then began leading. "C'mon."

Spyro followed him down the street a little ways, passing by several houses, then they came upon an intersection in the road. They turned left and headed down the road a little more ways, about two minutes worth, then they turned a right. This road wasn't as full of houses as Spyro was used to seeing, so it was easy spotting Cynder's home.

Cynder's home was one story and sort of small. It consisted of two bedrooms, one master bedroom, one kitchen, two bathrooms, and a living room. The front yard was decorated with a small garden on the side. The garden had a rose bush on the side of it and the main part of it were planted with bright colored flowers and daisies. The front porch was big enough for a whole party of dragons to stand on it, and the porch also had an wooden awning that stretched from the roof of the house across the front porch to protect anyone from the rain. On the porch were two light colored basic wooden chairs, and a bench which was hanging from two chains that was attached to the ceiling of the awning. On that bench was Cynder and she was light swinging back and forth on it. When she noticed Flame and Spyro, she got up and made her way to them with an unnoticeable smile.

"Hey there," Cynder greeted as she approached them.

"Hey Cynder, you doing anything important right now?" Flame asked hoping for no.

"Not at the moment. Why?" Cynder replied, looking over to her right at the garden.

Flame looked at Spyro then looked back at Cynder, "Me and Spyro are kinda bored so we were wondering what you were up to."

Cynder looked at Flame expectantly, "Is that all?"

"We were also wondering if you knew where any nearby swamps were at. Me and Spyro would like to check them out."

Spyro remained quiet. He wasn't sure what he was getting at at first, but when he said swamp he knew what Flame was planning.

"Swamps? Why would you . . . nevermind. I think I might know where one is but I'm not sure. So I guess I'll tag along with you two."

Spyro still remained quiet. They were all only eight years old, yet, Flame was willing to help him. Spyro was gonna have to tell Cynder on why they were going to a swamp. She was going to find out sooner or later anyways. All three of them were acting more mature than they should be. Was that a good thing? They were well taught, had courage, reliable, and were the best of friends Spyro could ever ask for. Spyro couldn't have asked for more.

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

"Sounds like you had a ol'e time," Lateef began then continued a few seconds later. "Did you ever find that mushroom thingy you were looking for? Sounds pretty rare to me cause I never heard of such a thing. Never heard of PCP either, whatever that stands for. What does it stand for anyways?"

"Plenicoplylia," Spyro replied, saying it slow so he could understand.

"Never heard of it. So I was thinking while you told us that story, I was in school with Ember in preschool and you must have been too. So we used to be classmates right?"

Spyro made a small smile, "Indeed we were."


	13. Swamps and Mushrooms

Sorry for the delay. Just read and don't ask questions k?

Chapter 13

"So did you find what you were looking for?" Lateef asked.

Spyro looked over and shook his head, "Unfortunately no. Me, Cynder and Flame looked everywhere we could but didn't find the red mushroom I was looking for. But we did find something else."

Magnus stirred in his sleep but his eyes were still shut. Everyone looked over at him to see that he was still sleeping as he was before.

Spyro returned to his story, "Anyways, we found the home of a group of dragonflies."

_Outskirts of Barkwood_

_Three Years Ago_

"Are you sure we should be doing this?" Cynder asked, looking back towards Barkwood while the three of them were walking at the moment.

The three small dragons were in the surrounding forest. Trees nearly everywhere with sounds of wildlife around them. There were a few pine cones on the ground as well as dead crunchy leaves. It was the same scenery wherever they went.

"Of course," Flame assured. "Well, not really. But we need to find that mushroom that Spyro needs." He turned to Spyro toward his right, "What does it look like again?"

"The cap is red and the stem is blue. It should be in a swamp somewhere and hard to miss," Spyro answered. "So when can we start flying Cynder?"

"As soon as we are clear of Barkwood," she harshly answered as if she already answered that question plenty of times already. "We don't want someone to see us flying towards the swamp."

"Come on," Spyro continued, lightly flapping his orange wings from anticipation. "No one will see us."

"Yeah," Flame agreed. "I want to fly, I'm tired of walking."

"And we will," Cynder said. "As soon as we get away from Barkwood."

"But Cynder," Flame began.

"But Cynder," Cynder mimicked to the best of her abilities, then returned to her normal voice. "That's what you sound like. Imagine listening to that all day." She mimicked again, "But Cynder! But Cynder! But Cynder!"

"Okay!" Flame interrupted. "I get the point."

Spyro chuckled at the moment. "Smooth."

Cynder kept on walking, despite the fact that the two dragons behind her whispering to each other. She only focused on heading toward the swamp that the two troublesome boys behind her wanted to go to. She asked herself many times on why she decided to go to such a place.

When she could see Barkwood through the trees behind her, she finally said, "Alright we can start flying now."

"Finally," Flame went. "Lead the way then."

Cynder took off through a gap in the trees above her first, followed by Flame then Spyro. Spyro looked behind him and could barely see a settlement off in the distance. No one would definitely be able to see them all the way out here. But what if someone saw them head into the woods before?

Spyro looked back ahead to see Flame and Cynder already on their way. Spyro began speeding forward to catch up to them.

During the trip, Spyro found himself being ignored. Flame was talking to Cynder about various things and when Spyro tried to add in something to the conversation, it was completely forgotten about as soon as he said it.Flame mainly flirted with her, whether she knew it or not. Spyro had the idea that she either wasn't interested or wasn't listening. So Spyro began talking to himself with his inside voice.

The scenery below them, which was mostly trees, turned into a swampy area overgrown with mushrooms, both huge and small. He rarely saw an actual tree now. It looked like the trees here were just giant overgrown mushrooms. He also saw a small river, which Cynder was apparently following. If that red mushroom existed, it would be here.

"What's with this place? There are mushrooms everywhere," Flame pointed out.

"Yes, that is the point my slow willing friend," Spyro answered. "Right Cynder?"

"Correct," Cynder said. Spyro smiled when she spoke back to him. He was getting tired of being ignored.

"So where are we going to land?" Flame asked, looking down toward the swamp.

"I'm looking," Cynder replied.

"How about down there?" Spyro suggested, pointing toward a open, dry spot in the swamp beside the river.

"Perfect," Cynder complimented as she began her descent. Flame and Spyro closely followed her all the way down.

Cynder softly landed on the dark colored dirt first, followed by Spyro who landed a bit more harsher than she did. When Flame landed, he was nearly thrown off balance. He landed on something.

"Mushrooms?" Flame looked down and saw that he landed on a large group of them. They were bigger and taller than normal mushrooms.

"And you broke a whole bunch of them," Spyro indicated. "I hope the mushroom we was looking for wasn't in that batch."

Flame flapped his wings enough to get airborne so he could safely make it to where Spyro and Cynder stood without destroying any more mushrooms. Then the three of them started looking through all the mushrooms, looking for that odd one out. Instead, Cynder spotted something else under the broken mushrooms Flame landed on. It was a golden yellow color whatever it was.

"What's that thing under there?" Cynder asked while pointing.

Spyro looked then noticed it as well, "I don't know. Maybe it's gold?"

"Gold?" Flame admonished. He ran over to the broken mushrooms and began clearing a way to the gold. Throwing mushrooms over his shoulder, he uncovered the gold. "Hey, this isn't gold."

Spyro and Cynder made their way over to Flame the best they could, avoiding as many mushrooms as possible. They looked down in the gap and saw a golden dragonfly. Although the dragonfly laid still on the ground with his eyes shut tight.

"What is it?" Cynder asked.

Flame grinned sheepishly, "Go touch it."

Spyro rolled his eyes, "It's a dragonfly. Don't you remember preschool at all?"

"Oh yeah, I never actually seen one though," Cynder added in. "But Flame landed on him."

"Is he hurt?" Flame looked down at the dragonfly.

"Probably," Spyro responded like it was obvious. "Should we help him?"

"Uh . . . yeah we should help him," Cynder said. She leaned over and picked up the limp dragonfly with her two front paws while she stood on her back paws.

"But where do we take him?" Flame asked.

Spyro was about to add in something but something got his attention in the gap where the dragonfly laid. He leaned over while the other two watched, wondering what he was up to.

"What are you doing?" Cynder asked as Spyro laid down on his belly and reached under the standing mushrooms in front of him.

"I think I found it," Spyro said. He snagged something then brought it back out for everyone to see. It was a red mushroom with a blue stalk.

"Wait," Flame spoke. "Is that the mushroom you are looking for?"

Spyro nodded, "Yeah, this is it. Some stroke of luck that Flame didn't destroy it."

"And another stroke for finding it so fast," Cynder added. "So what are we going to do with him?" She asked, holding out the dragonfly. "Is he even alive?"

"I can't tell," Flame said. "We should take him to Ignitus. He would probably know what to do with these dragonflies."

Cynder looked over at Spyro for the confirmation, "Well Spyro? Are we heading back?"

Spyro held on tight to the mushroom he found then nodded, "Yeah, I found what I was looking for. I guess Ignitus will now how to cure my father with this."

"Alright then, shall we get going?" Cynder opened her wings and slowly took off into the sky, carefully holding on to the dragonfly so she wouldn't drop him. "Don't worry little guy. We'll get you help."

_Later_

The three dragons went back to Flame and Spyro's home to tell Ignitus the news. When they entered the house, the only one inside was Maia. So they began explaining the story to her instead.

Maia, Ignitus's silver scaled wife, listened to the three dragon's story. When she heard they ventured as far as the outer swamps, she grew worried on the inside. Spyro was searching for the cure already. But when Spyro presented the blue mushroom to Maia, she was more than astonished.

"Where did you even find this?" Maia asked, examining the mushroom she was just given.

"The swamp," Spyro answered. "But we found a dragonfly who looked hurt."

"Dragonfly?"

Cynder walked up to Maia, still holding the dragonfly with her two front paws. He was still out cold. Or at least she hoped so.

"Put him on the couch," Maia said. Cynder obeyed and walked around the couch and slowly laid the dragonfly down. As soon as she did, she walked around on her fours.

Maia set the mushroom on the arm of the couch and took a look at the dragonfly. After a few moments, she told the news to the dragons eagerly waiting behind her. "I don't see any signs of serious injury. But I do see a bruise on his head. I'm guessing something must have knocked him on the head."

"So he's gonna be okay?" Cynder asked.

Maia nodded, "He just needs rest. He'll wake up when the time is right." She walked back over to the mushroom then looked back at Spyro, "Are you sure you found this in the swamp?"

"Positive," Spyro replied. "Why?"

"Because these mushrooms are rare because they are found in caves near swamps. How it got outside is a mystery, maybe the dragonfly knows something." A few seconds of thinking passed and Maia asked, "You didn't see any other dragonflies while you were there?"

"Nope," the three dragons replied.

"Then he must have been a scout or guard," Maia indicated. "Our out getting supplies." Then Maia turned and headed for her room near the exit. "When he wakes up then tell me."

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

"Interesting that you found that mushroom," Lateef said. "Well Maia was right, they usually grow in caves but I wonder what that mushroom was doing in that batch."

"We figured out that part when the dragonfly woke up," Spyro replied.

"Did he have a name?"

Spyro smiled, "His name was Sparx."

"And that's where you met him," Ember added. "In the swamp."

"Sure did," Spyro answered.


	14. An Exiled Evil

Chapter 14

An Exiled Evil

The door swung open making Spyro, Ember, and Lateef look over to see what caused it. Flame and Cynder finally decided to join the party and the two of them were making their way toward the small group. Hunter's home somehow seemed a bit smaller now.

"How is he doing?" Flame asked, regarding toward Magnus, who still seemed like he was fast asleep on the couch in a deep imaginary dream.

"Still sleeping," Spyro answered the obvious. "He's going to be fine though. The cheetah's are very tender to the injured. I'm not sure on how much longer he'll be asleep, it could vary."

"That's good to know," Cynder softly added in.

Lateef nodded in agreement, "Indeed it is." Although you could hear the hint of slump in his voice, still thinking it was his fault that Magnus was in the position he was in now.

Lateef perked up when Spyro said, "Well, why don't I continue this story of mine?"

Ember smiled in response, "I would like that. So what did Maia do with Sparx and the mushroom you found?"

"Well," Spyro began. It took him a moment to recollect those memories of his. "Me, Flame, and Cynder did find the mushroom I was looking for, but that one mushroom wasn't enough."

"How many did you need?" Ember interrupted.

Spyro smiled and continued with the answer, "At least five mushrooms were needed for just one dose of medicine. So we planned to go back to the swamps to search some more."

_Barkwood_

_Three Years Ago_

The golden dragonfly woke up to some unfamiliar surroundings, making him feel uncomfortable. He was in someone's house on their couch with a smell of something cooking in the cool air.

The glowing dragonfly tried to think of how he ended up in this predicament but kept drawing blanks in his head. He only remembered carrying a strange looking mushroom over a patch of the more common toadstools when all the sudden a shadow blocked his view of the sun. He looked up only for everything to suddenly black out on him.

Sitting up in an upright position, the dragonfly rubbed his head with a groan. A groan that happened to catch a certain dragon's attention.

"Your awake!" A black dragon nearly exclaimed.

The dragonfly's head snapped over toward his right where the shout came from to see a young female dragon looking over the arm of the chair straight at him. Then he felt a sudden strike of fear run through his spine as he flapped his little wings as fast as he could, getting himself airborne. The dragon watched him as he flew up toward the ceiling away from the dragon.

"Hey wait!" the dragon called out as she gave chase.

"Who are you?" the dragonfly asked, finding himself cornered above the fireplace on the right side of the living room.

The dragoness could tell he was frightened, if not, terrified. Evidently he never seen a dragon face to face before. So she tried to be as sweet as she could. "Don't worry little guy, it's alright."

"H- How is this alright?"

The dark dragoness sat down in comfort in an attempt to show the dragonfly she meant no harm. "My name is Cynder."

The dragonfly didn't seem very sure at first but finally managed after a few seconds, "Umm . . . I'm Sparx."

Cynder smiled and was about to reply but she heard someone enter the room. She turned around to see Maia, exiting her room, wondering what all the commotion was. Then she noticed the dragonfly cowering in the corner of the room.

"Oh my," Maia began, making her way to Cynder's side.

"Who are you?" Sparx nearly exclaimed.

The silver scaled dragon slightly shook her head at his behavior, "Maia. Why are you so frightened by our appearance?"

"Sparx," Cynder informed in a low tone toward Maia. "His name is Sparx."

The dragonfly watched the two dragons as careful as he could. He couldn't see any signs of danger but still held his cautious expression. It took a minute or so but Sparx finally calmed himself down to the point where he was able to speak clearly, but still hovering up in the safety of his corner.

"Well," Sparx began, looking for the words to fill in his sentence. "Just place yourself in my wings for a moment and I'll tell you. Imagine waking up in a place that you don't know, only to be greeted by a creature you've only heard tall tales about."

"So you never seen a dragon before?" Cynder politely asked.

Sparx shook his head side to side, "Sorry but I've lived in the swamp my whole life." Then the two dragon's could almost hear a spark inside the dragonfly's head. "Speaking of which, where is the swamp and how did I get here?"

Maia looked at Cynder then let the black dragon answer, "Long story short. Me, a red dragon named Flame and a purple dragon named Spyro was looking for a special type of mushroom. As we landed, Flame happened to land on you."

"Mushroom?" Sparx repeated. "Does this mushroom have a red cap and blue stem?"

Cynder nodded, "That's it."

The dragonfly continued, "Well, I did have one after I went out scouting. I thought it was a little unusual so I was going to take it to my parents to show them." He stopped for a moment, "Was."

"We're sorry," Cynder apologized. "If it makes you feel any better we have the mushroom."

Sparx shook it off, "Meh, if it's that important to you then you can keep it. Looked kind of worthless to me anyways."

Maia butted in the conversation with a question, "Sparx, where exactly did you find that mushroom? We need a couple more of them to make some medicine."

"Medicine? Who's sick? Remind me to stay away from him."

"Relax," Cynder comforted. "No one around here is sick." The black dragon turned toward Maia, "Why did we need these mushrooms for?"

Maia turned to Cynder, thinking that she already knew the reason. "The main reason why Spyro is here is to gather these mushrooms to cure his father's illness. Didn't he tell you?"

The black dragoness went quiet so Sparx went ahead, "Doesn't look like it."

"So where did you find the mushroom?" Maia asked again with persistency in her voice.

"If you really must know," Sparx sighed then continued. "I found them in these old ruins of some civilization or whatever."

"Was there more than just the one you found?"

Sparx thoughtfully replied, sounding a bit more easy and a lot less frightened now. "There could be. And before you ask, I found the mushroom in some cave in the ruins itself. Kind of a creepy place if you ask me."

Maia soaked in the information, trying to picture a hidden temple in the swamp. She heard that something historic was out there but it never really interested her enough for her to travel that long way to see for herself. She turned to Cynder to see her in some sort of daze. "Cynder."

Cynder escaped her thoughts and turned toward the silver dragon and let her continue, "Go get Spyro and Flame and tell them to come back here. They will probably be wanting to hear this news themselves."

_Meanwhile_

_In the backyard_

The backyard was actually larger than the front, decorated with some various flower on the right side near a white picketed fence, and combat equipment toward the left. The equipment contained simple target boards, which were black due to fireballs, and training dummies that had seen their better days. The forest was a good twenty yards away from training grounds making it fairly safe for practice. But at the backdoor were three familiar dragons.

"It's good that you found a mushroom you two," Ignitus began, praising the two dragons. "But it was reckless for you two to go alone."

"We weren't alone," Flame indicated with a frown. "Cynder was with us."

Flame's father breathed a sigh, "I know that I can trust all of you to find the mushrooms, but there have been some difficulties in the swamplands."

"Difficulties?" repeated Spyro. "You mean like the local frogweeds?"

Ignitus shook his head, "No, there have been sightings of something that could be far worse than the frogweeds."

"Like what?" Flame asked.

Ignitus turned and looked down at his son, seeing the spirit in his eyes, "If you must know then I have no choice but to tell you. You know of the race known as the apes? There have been sightings of them coming from the swamps."

"What?" Spyro went in surprise. "I thought they were exiled to Dante's Freezer?"

"Yes, that is correct. But somehow they managed to escape, haven't you two noticed the increase of activity in the village?"

Spyro and Flame simultaneously shook their heads while Flame came up with a simple answer, "No."

"Will you two at least stay out the swamps for now?" Ignitus finally requested.

The red guardian hoped for an answer but was interrupted by the back door. He listened to it squeak open for it to reveal a small black dragoness around Spyro and Flame's size.

"What is it Cynder?" Ignitus asked having the thought that she wanted something.

"Maia told me to get Flame and Spyro. The dragonfly woke up," Cynder informed.

"Oh really?" Flame said speedily. "Well then we better go see what she wants so let's get going Spyro."

"Alright," Spyro replied.

And as quick as lightening, the two of them disappeared inside the structure Ignitus called home. Cynder watched the two dragons make their way around her with a careful eye, wondering what the rush was.

"Did I interrupt something?" she asked, looking back up at Ignitus.

"Don't worry about it," Ignitus lowly responded.

It didn't take long for Maia to explain the news about Sparx. The dragonfly found the new company a bit more frightening than Cynder and Maia, probably because they ran into the living room, trying to beat each other in some type of race. But it all went rather well, Sparx had his story explained again, letting the two new dragons here about a cave in a temple which could hold the mushrooms Spyro needed to find. But this only urged his and Flame to get back to the swamp and find this so called temple and finally cure his father's illness before his time was up. But apes in the swamp? Spyro knew they hated dragons because of what they did to them. The dragons were the reason they were locked away inside that frozen pit they called Dante's Freezer. Meaning if they ever came across an ape, it was do or die time.

Ignitus made his way inside to hear the same story, this time from Spyro and Flame. Spyro seemed the most excited about the cave that could hold the medicine he sought out for so long, which actually made Ignitus happy for him but worried as well. Cockiness was one trait that Ignitus hoped the purple dragon would never possess.

Cynder seemed to take an unusual liking toward the dragonfly. She was always keeping an eye on him like Sparx was a new pet. They talked, but very little, mainly about the swamp. Sparx only told her that it was his home where he always hoped to be safe. Little did he know about the ape sightings.

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

"Ah," Flame chuckled. "The apes. They were a pain in my tail."

"They were a pain toward the cheetahs as well," Cynder reminded. "Thankfully."

"Thankfully?" Ember replied in question. "How could you be thankful for that?"

Spyro answered with a grin, "Let's just say that if it wasn't for the apes, we wouldn't be here right now. But you'll see what I mean in my story."

"Hey guys!" Lateef said in an excited tone. "Look! He's waking up!"

"Who?" Cynder went.

"Magnus," Flame happily responded.

Everyone turned their attention toward the couch to see the tainted silver scaled dragon stirred, then opened his eyes to the unfamiliar surroundings.


	15. Looking for Trouble

Apologies for taking so long to update this one. I fixed many grammatical mistakes in the first few chappies and made very minor changes. It's not worth re-reading the whole thing though, unless you want to.

Chapter 15

Looking for Trouble

Everyone was quiet at first. Magnus rubbed his eyes as he looked around the room. He saw many faces, two of them he knew. The rest, he had no idea.

"Where am I?" the silver scaled dragon slowly asked.

Lateef quickly answered, "Your in the cheetah village. Boy, am I glad your okay."

Magnus took it easy as he sat up on the couch. He scratched his head as he studied everyone in the room. Then he set his eyes on a pink dragoness, who seemed to be smiling toward him. "Ember?"

"Hey," she greeted simply. Then her smiled disappeared as she asked, "Are you alright?"

Magnus stretched his limbs, "I feel sore."

"You need your rest," Spyro assertively said. "Take it easy, Magnus."

"Well," the silver scaled dragon began. He layed back down and continued. "It seems you know me, but who are you?"

"I'm Flame," the red dragon introduced.

The red dragon looked at Cynder with a small grin. Cynder rolled her eyes at him then introduced herself. "Cynder."

"And I'm Spyro," the purple dragon finished.

Magnus studied Spyro for a moment. The room felt a little hot and he felt like he was beginning to sweat. Maybe it was just him. "So you're the purple dragon I've heard so much about."

Spyro cocked an eye, "Didn't know I was famous."

Lateef chuckled to himself. "Just for today."

The silver dragon looked back at Spyro with a satisfied look on his face. "Everyone in class has heard about you today."

"What about me?"

Everyone looked over toward the door and saw a small golden dragonfly hovering in front of it, just as it closed. Half of the crowd grew surprised at the dragonfly while the other were either smirking or sighing.

"I thought you had gotten yourself lost," Cynder greeted.

The dragonfly hovered his way over Cynder's head. "Well it would have been easier to find if you gave better directions. Telling me to go 'that way' didn't exactly cut it."

The purple dragon smiled. "It's not like you haven't been here before."

Ember studied the dragonfly for a while, then guessed, "You must be Sparx."

The dragonfly showed the first grin she had seen. "The one and only. I'm sure you've heard about all my heroic deeds."

"I bet she has," Flame sarcastically remarked.

"Anyways," Spyro began, getting himself more comfortable. "I'm sure you want to hear the rest of my story, so I'll just hop to it."

"Story?" Magnus repeated.

Ember happily answered, "Spyro's been telling me his story of his adventures."

"Oh," the silver dragon simply went. "Well, it sounds like a good way to pass the time."

Spyro smiled as he began. "Well, Sparx stayed with us for a little while, but it didn't take long for him to tell us that he needed to get back home to his swamp."

_Barkwood_

_Three Years Ago_

"I have to get back home," Sparx pointed out, hovering near the front door of Ignitus's home. "My parents are probably worried about me by now."

Cynder was the only one in the living room at the moment. She didn't really know what to do with him. "I understand, but can you wait here for a little while? I need to tell the others about this so I won't get into trouble."

"Well then hurry up, it's starting to get dark out and I really don't want to be out when it's dark."

The young black dragoness didn't waste any time. Last time she seen any dragon was in the backyard. So she quickly made her way through the house and found her way into the backyard. Everyone was still there. They looked at her as she opened the back door, wondering what she wanted.

"Sparx wants to go home," Cynder announced.

Spyro and Flame looked at one another. Maia looked toward Ignitus, waiting for his answer. "Then we will let him go," Ignitus replied. "Stay out here Cynder. I need to warn Sparx about the apes."

"Okay," Cynder quietly said.

She stepped to the side and allowed Ignitus by her and into the household. He closed the door behind him as he made his way back to the living room, where Sparx impatiently waited.

"Well?" the dragonfly inquired. "Am I gonna be held prisoner here or can I go?"

"You may leave when you wish, but I must warn you about something first."

The dragonfly cocked an eye, "And that is?"

"There have been sightings of apes near the swamplands," Ignitus informed. "I would ask you to be careful, and stay alert. I want you to tell your relatives about this. They must be warned."

"Right," Sparx slurred. "Gotcha. Now just point me in the right direction and I'll be out of your hair . . . I mean spines."

_Back to Spyro and Ember_

"That was the last time we saw Sparx," Spyro comfortably told. "At least for a good while anyways."

Ember smiled, "When you see him again?"

Spyro thought for a moment, then continued, "Well, everything was pretty boring after that. Barkwood was quiet and not a lot happened. A good year quickly came and went. Me, Flame, and Cynder occasionally sneaked off and went exploring, but because of the ape sightings, we stayed airborne and were never gone too long. "

"Until . . .," Flame began with a smirk.

Spyro sighed. "But one day, we finally had the guts to actually land in the swamp and begin looking for the mushrooms again. All the times we went flying, we never spotted the ruins Sparx spoke of. So there was only one explanation. The ruins were hidden underneath the swampland trees."

_Swamplands_

_Two Years Ago_

"You know," Cynder began in a respired tone. "Sometimes, I wish my view to be a little more . . . sanitary."

"I know your tired of the swamp," Spyro replied. "But those ruins has to be here somewhere."

Spyro looked ahead, only to see marsh and plenty of willow trees, along with cypress trees. There were plenty of bugs flying around as well, making Cynder even more aggravated.

"What about those apes?" Cynder began.

Flame looked over toward her with a concerned look. "What about them?"

The black dragoness looked at him expectantly. "What if they show up?"

"Well, that's easy," Flame inspirationally replied. "We deal with them and move on."

Spyro nearly laughed. "You make it sound like it's going to be so easy."

"That's because it will be. Especially when I'm here."

Spyro looked back ahead and slightly shook his head. "Yep, Flame, what a character."

The trip went to being quiet afterwards. Mainly, because of Cynder. She continued to shush them whenever they talked, which wasn't like her. She would always listen to their conversations while they were flying. It gave her something to do. But that was above the trees. When that black dragoness stood underneath them, she showed another side of her that Spyro rarely seen.

Thirty slow minutes came and went, and still no sign of any sort of civilization. As time passed, Spyro grew more and more worried. He quietly mentioned that they might get lost, but Flame quickly passed it off by saying he had a good sense of direction. The purple dragon didn't know if they had been this deep in the swamp before.

Then Cynder stopped in her tracks. Spyro immediately noticed, while Flame bumped into her. She hardly noticed.

"Did you hear that?" she asked, worry in her face.

Flame picked his head up, "Hear what?"

"Shh," Cynder quietly went. "Listen."

Spyro didn't ask twice. He kept as still as he could and listened to the best of his abilities. It only took a moment for him to hear a noise, deep in the swamp. It almost sounded like a roar, or battle cry of some kind.

"What is that?" the purple dragon whispered in wonder.

"I hear it too," Flame added in with the same tone as Spyro.

Cynder shook her head. "I don't know. But it has me worried."

"Worried?" Flame repeated. He looked at Spyro for a moment to see he didn't look as boastful as he was. "What is there to worry about? It sounded like it was way over in that direction." Flame pointed with his paw across the swamp, then quickly got back to all fours.

The purple dragon looked as far as he could, but he couldn't see anything other than trees. "What do you think Cynder? Is it worth investigating?"

The black dragoness thought about it for a moment. Maybe this was just some swamp bear or some other wildlife creature that lived out here? It was possible, but as much as Cynder wanted to believe that, it just wasn't likely. But something was causing the roar.

"It could be someone that's in trouble," Cynder quietly replied. "We better go see what it was."

"Yes," Flame quietly remarked. "Finally, a change of pace. I've been begging for it."

"It could be a false alarm as well," Spyro informed.

"Don't be a mood breaker," Flame retorted.

Cynder scowled toward the two of them, immediately ceasing their interruptions. "We should fly there," she suggested. "Maybe we can catch the owner of the roar before he disappears."

Flame and Spyro nodded in unison as Cynder began to flap her wings, lifting herself off the marsh. They quickly followed her and flew through a gap in the trees and over the landscape. The sun shown through the partly cloudy sky as a cool breeze blew against them. Then Cynder heard that roar again. She quickly looked toward her left and began to make her way toward it. All Spyro and Flame saw was a seemingly endless sight of trees. It was going to be tough to find the source of the bellow if they could hardly see through the tree tops.

But as they drew closer, it seemed as if they didn't have to use their eyes to find them. An indistinguishable noise was heard, but it was more constant and loud. Spyro looked Cynder over with anxiety, wondering what the cause of the ruckus was. But Cynder didn't seem so eager. She kept her concerned look.

"I'm not liking this," Cynder lowly stated. "Bad feelings are stirring."

"Hey," Spyro began, getting the dragoness' attention. "It's going to be alright. I'm here for you."

It took a few seconds for Cynder to show that satisfied look on her face. "Thank you."

"Hey," Flame began, breaking up the conversation. "Don't get mushy on me."

Spyro shrugged as his face turned a slightly red color in his cheeks. He quickly returned his attention down to the landscape below, avoiding eye contact with Cynder. "Whatever Flame."

Cynder watched Spyro for a moment, nearly forgetting about the task at hand. Then she began to hear activity in the swamp ahead, slowly growing as they flew closer. "That must be where that roar came from," Cynder suggested. "We better hurry, it doesn't sound good."

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination. While still above the treetops, all three dragons heard several noises from below. There were even voices.

"Let's go," Flame smirked, slowly descending back down into the swamp.

"Wait," Cynder called out. Flame only ignored her request. The red dragon quickly disappeared underneath the tree limbs. She then looked over at Spyro, "Should we really be doing this?"

"Probably not," Spyro replied. "But seeing as Flame is already down there, we better check it out. You with me?"

Cynder nodded. "Alright, let's do this then."

The two dragons slowly descended down into the swamp, keeping an eye out for anything suspicious. As soon as the two of them were safely underneath the tree limbs, they both became shocked.

There were apes. Spyro counted four of them as they marched over a group of mushrooms, smashing them, stepping on them, destroying them in any way possible. But what was worse, was that there were dragonflies fleeing the scene.

"Spyro!" Cynder exclaimed. "We have to stop them! This is the colony that Sparx told us about!"

"If your right," Spyro began. "Then it's possible that Sparx is here."

Then Flame decided to show himself as he took his place beside the purple dragon. "You ready to do this Spyro? These apes don't stand a chance against us."

Spyro nodded. "I hope your right Flame."

Then one of the apes turned his attention toward the dragons hovering in the air above them. He quickly got the all the other apes attention, just as the three dragons began their quick descent toward them.


End file.
